Hitmen in Crisis
by ShamelessDilettante
Summary: Sawada Giotto, the newly introduced Vongola Decimo has left for Italy in order to train under the Ninth. He would rather go and keep his innocent younger twin, Tsunayoshi, away from the dark world despite his tutor's comments that Tsuna could very well be an asset to Vongola. However, Tsuna and Reborn have other plans, which would have gone well if not for someone's intervention.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My apologies in advance for any grammar and spelling mistakes. **

**This is an R27 fic, and yes it will feature Adult!Reborn later on. There might be a little All27 depending on how my mind works.**

**Here are the ages of Giotto & Tsuna's friends, its not that important but use it as reference as the timeline jumps a lot.**

**Tsuna, Giotto, G, Hayato, Takeshi, Ryohei, Lampo (16)**

**Mukuro, Chrome, Knuckles, Asari, Kyoya (17)**

**Daemon, Alaude (18)**

**Lambo, I-pin (5)**

**Also note that languages spoken correspond to the country, unless otherwise indicated.**

**Warnings: Violence, death, adult themes. Character abuse through Reborn.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! If I did, it'd have lots of yaoi in it and we all know that would ruin the story.**

**Now onto the story, enjoy!**

**Hitmen in Crisis. Chapter 1.**

Giotto had his arms wrapped tightly around his younger twin squeezing the life out of him as he sobbed into his younger twin's fluffy hair.

"Giotto-, c-can't breathe-!"

He just snuggled harder, taking in the soft, sweet scent of his brother; reminiscent of vanilla and strawberries yet unique at the same time. Trying his best to imprint the scent into his memory. A choked sound came from the teen in his arms, then;

"Baka-Giotto, if you don't let go soon he's going to suffocate."

Giotto jerked his head up, his hold loosening enough for Tsuna to be able to take in large gulps of precious air. Meanwhile Giotto was busy glaring at the owner of the squeaky voice who dared to interrupt his precious time with adorable little brother. Because home tutor or not, this was Tsuna he was talking about. And for his efforts, his face was introduced, yet again, to the sole of Reborn's shoe. Causing him to fall ungracefully with a resounding thump.

Tsuna who stood the side, winced, knowing exactly how much that had to hurt. He watched as G started fussing over his best friend and sighed at the crazy antics, somewhat glad that he would at least be able to get some peace when they left. Yes, his twin was leaving with his friends and guardians for Italy, so that he could be introduced as the official Vongola Decimo and start to learn how to properly run Vongola under the Ninth's wing. After 3 years of insanity, blood, sweat and tears, his brother was ready or as much as he could be ready for the role. Personally Tsuna felt that Giotto would make a great boss and had mentioned as such many times and despite Giotto's reluctance at the start, he had a feeling that Giotto would probably be the best boss Vongola had ever had.

Smiling, Tsuna walked toward his brother and hugged him from behind (he'd rather not get choked to death) and said," good luck over in Italy, Giotto. Kaa-san and I will miss you, so you better make sure to learn to be the best boss anyone could wish for!"

As Giotto once again devolved into tears, struggling to turn around in his brother's arms so that he could latch onto his other half again, and succeeded when Tsuna got distracted by Daemon's "Nufufufu, Tsunayoshi-kun, what about me? Surely you would miss me more?" resulting in G yelling at him about being a 'perverted melon' and Alaude to bare his handcuffs threateningly stating, "I'll arrest you, insect!"

Tsuna once again sweat-dropped as everything became chaos as per usual. Just glad that his brother wasn't trying to strangle him anymore as he sobbed into his shoulder. Blubbering something along the lines of going to miss his 'adorable brother' and other incoherent mumbo-jumbo. He huffed exasperatedly, they were both 16! And being called 'cute', 'adorable' or any other such words was not exactly flattering. It wasn't his fault that all his efforts to buff up a bit resulted in his current sinewy, slender figure, not that Giotto was doing much better.

"Vongola Decimo-sama, the plane is ready for boarding."

This made everyone go quiet, turning to face the flight attendant at the door who was still in a deep bow.

Reborn was the one who answered, "Thank you. We will start boarding." Turning to Giotto, he smirked. "Baka-Gio, it's your responsibility to watch over your guardians and survive the flight." Giotto visibly paled as he realised that he had to get onto a plane. A cramped space (no matter how luxurious a private jet was, it was still small) with /all/ his guardians; a hot-head, an overly cheerful idiot (in G's opinion), a brat, two bloodthirsty people and an overly loud boxer. All of whom rubbed each other the wrong way if they even so much as opened their mouths to speak.

Suddenly deciding that the whole thing wasn't worth it, Giotto took hold of his brother's arm and legged it. Jumping over the Leon-stick that was there to trip him, he made it one foot out the door before a green net descended on top of him and a sharp jab to his neck knocked him out cold.

"Uhm... Reborn-san?" G looked nervously between his unconscious best friend and his tutor.

"He was being too whiny" was the childish reply.

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G was the last one to ruffle his hair affectionately, Giotto slung across one shoulder. "Take care, ok? If we weren't aware that you're capable of defending yourself I doubt we'd be leaving at all, I swear the both of you are such trouble magnets." he grumbled out. Tsuna just laughed in reply, once again reassuring that he would be fine, patted Giotto's unconscious fluffy head and watched as they boarded the plane with a large Vongola symbol emblazoned on the side.

Tsuna watched as the plane turned into a vague white blur in the sky before turing to his shoulder, where Reborn was perched. Gazing at him curiously.

Reborn snorted before stating, "The coronation is in a week, we'll leave before then."

Tsuna gave a relieved smile in return, at least he won't miss it, not that Giotto was going to know he was there.

Another snort. "Baka-Giotto is too soft hearted for his own good. If only he would accept the fact that you could be a very good asset to the Vongola, but he won't even hear of it. Then again your father doesn't want you involved either. The idiots."

"Well... I can't speak for my father, but Giotto's just watching out for me. I'm just glad that I can help them, even if I have to do it from the shadows." Tsuna smiled softly as he recalled how utterly useless he was before all this madness, before Reborn came. "And besides, at least you'll be keep an eye on me, wont you?" he asked grinning cheekily.

"Of course." Reborn scoffed. "You're still a hundred years too early to even be thinking of leaving my watch." Then he smirked, "And while we've got this week to ourselves I'll be training you during the day too."

Tsuna groaned, slumping over in defeat, he could just imagine the number of bruises and aching muscles he'd have by the end of next week. Reborn just kicked him in the head before landing in his arms. "A good assassin takes his training seriously."

Rubbing the sore spot at the centre of his fore-head, he mumbled "But your training is like hell and torture rolled into some huge horrifying concoction that puts any receiver at the verge of death."

Reborn just smirked, an evil glint in his eye. "Did you say something Dame-Tsuna?"

"N-no, of course not!" Tsuna replied hastily, cursing his stutter (he thought he'd finally gotten rid of it).

Reborn just 'hm'ed before turning to the front, getting a free ride in the arms of his disciple. Tsuna doubted Reborn was going to let him off that easily though, especially if the sadistic gleam in his eye was anything to go by. Yeah, he was really going to hate this week.

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1 week later. Vongola mansion, Italy.

"Giotto Sawada, I hear by announce you as the Vongola Decimo, the tenth generation boss of the Vongola famiglia, may your reign be prosperous and full of fortune."

The mantle was handed over, the Vongola crest embellished on the back in gold. It fit perfectly on the teen Decimo's shoulders as he stood up and turned to face the crowd, face impassive yet eyes kind. Gazing over the crowd, lingering on those he was more familiar with, the Mafioso started to clap and cheer. An aura of command and charisma surrounded the young Decimo, further emphasised by the presence of his guardians that stood around him.

In the crowd, a man with strawberry blonde hair dressed a in a white suit and dark sunglasses smiled as he watched the Decimo step down from the raised dais to mingle with the crowd. Allies and friends alike are surrounding him to give their well wishes and congratulations. Scratching his head he scowled inwardly, the wig was rather itchy. Outwardly he had an easy-going smile on his face, making his way toward the refreshments placed at the side of the grand ball room he listened to the people as they began to mingle.

Currently the brilliantly decorated room was filled with Mafioso, all either allies or neutral families that had certain connections with the Vongola. All had come to see who would be the next leader of the most powerful mafia famiglia in the world. Glancing around from behind his darkened shades, his sharp eyes picked out the nondescript black suits standing in the shadows behind various large pillars all bearing the Vongola insignia. The security, of course. Large gathering like these were like a goldmine for enemies, especially with so many influential people in one place, all it took was a well placed explosive or a well thought out strategy to ambush the gathering. Just because the Vongola were the strongest did not mean they were invincible.

Of course danger did not just come from the outside, the man had no doubt that there were spies or even famiglia who would go back on their words or their pact in the large gathering, he himself hated to doubt people like this, but his teacher had pounded into him that in this dark world, everyone is suspect.

Already he could see small gatherings in the shadows, one which seemed to be passing each other some substance. 'Drugs' his mind supplied, 'either a new one to go on the black market or an exchange'. Another two suited Mafioso seated near the wall to his right were exchanging money. His ears caught snippets of conversations, from pleasant greetings to threats made with hushed menacing voices, to new alliances being formed. The shadows held all sorts of nasty things.

He himself was leaning against the wall half his body in shadow due to a pillar in front of him, observing and alert. His senses were stretched as far as they would go, mind automatically filing and filtering conversations for important titbits and disregarding others. Eyes watching cautiously, taking in the various insignia on suits that varied in sizes, and colours. Taking a sip of the cocktail he'd picked up from the refreshments earlier he noted the smaller famiglias less recognisable emblems. He himself adorned the Коварства (Covarstva) insignia, an average sized Russian mafia family that prided themselves on Intel gathering.

"White stands out a bit much. Although I'll admit it suits you."

The man no motion that he had heard, murmuring a reply so that his lips could not be read. "I'm flattered you think of me in such a way."

A dark smirk spread across his companion's face, "Don't start being cheeky with me now... Tsuna."

"I thought you were the one literally drilling into me the fact that I should never blow my cover when in disguise unless it's beneficial?"

"You are far too young to be questioning my abilities, Dame-Tsuna."

The man, or Tsuna disguise, just sighed. Of course he wouldn't question his teacher's abilities. If Reborn thought it was safe to mention his name that meant that there was no one watching either of them, nor were there any listening devices near. After all, if he were discovered, Reborn would most likely be in more trouble that he himself since the hitman had been specifically ordered not to involve the younger twin in the mafia. He was just supposed to be aware of his lineage and perhaps be able to defend himself but that was as far as it went. Not that he knew how long that would last, what with his brother and himself looking so similar to each other.

Speaking of his brother... He glanced over to see Giotto standing next to Cozart in the middle of the ball room; they were talking to Gamma and Byakuran. He frowned a little when he noticed the lack of the white bulbous hat; Gamma never left Yuni's side. Turning to his teacher, who stood on the shadowed half of his shoulder, he raised an eyebrow in question.

Reborn lowered his fedora, shadowing his eyes as he stated, "Yuni's sick." Tsuna's eyes, which Reborn could see through the side of the sunglasses, softened in concern. Yuni hadn't been feeling well as of late, most likely due to the curse that allowed her to keep her older body in exchange for a shorter life span and the overuse of her abilities. "She's strong so you shouldn't worry so much."

At this Tsuna brightened up a little, "Yeah, she is, isn't she?" A companionable silence fell over the both of them; Reborn swiping his drink to take a sip as Tsuna absentmindedly stroked Leon on the head. Tsuna broke the silence with the question that had been on his mind for awhile, "Reborn, are you staying in Italy with Giotto?"

Reborn smiled deviously, "What? Are you going to miss me if I do?" feeling his disciple fidget underneath him, his smirked widened. Then he turned serious, "No, there's no need for me to stay, Giotto's learnt all he needed to from me. He's going to study under the ninth and will be inaugurated as the Boss officially when he turns 18. I will be going back to my job as a hitman, allied to Vongola." Seeing the crestfallen eyes of his student, somewhat proud that the face had remained pretty much impassive throughout the conversation, he snorted. "And you're coming with me." Then he had to hold back the chuckle at seeing the brunet's eyes brighten up, excitement obviously there.

"You really think I'll leave you alone to try and support Vongola and help your brother build a more peaceful mafia when you've hardly any field experience? You're still like a new born babe in this dark world." He smirked as Tsuna frowned (read: pouted) and opened his mouth to retort but the hitman cut him off, "And no, the various accidents you always seem to end up in and the help you gave to famiglia like the Коварства do not count."

"It's not that bad, surely." Tsuna moped.

"I hate to say this, but G's right. You and your brother are both trouble magnets."

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1 year later. Italy.

Rain fell in steady drops, the sound muffling the sobs and broken hearted cries that permeated the air around the crowd gathered before the grave stone. Gamma crouched before it, bawling his eyes out the rest of Giglio Nero, the Arcobaleno and other close famiglia behind him in a similar state.

Giotto had his head bowed; wishing that Yuni was enjoying herself in the afterlife, because he knew without a doubt a soul like hers deserved it. He also wished his brother could be here to pay his respects. Yuni and Tsuna had gotten along really well, like two peas in a pod almost. But he knew that could not happen, because this was a mafia gathering and he would keep his sweet, innocent younger twin away from that world if it was the last thing he did.

"Giotto."

He turned to the familiar squeaky voice, the last time he had seen the chibi hitman had been about a month ago, when Reborn had come back to the Vongola mansion to get an assignment from his grandfather.

"Reborn." He greeted, noting absently that both their voices were much more subdued than usual, but then again his guardians were in a similar state, and even Lampo was uncharacteristically quiet. "What a way to celebrate your birthday, huh?" his attempt at humour sounded dry and emotionless in the gloomy atmosphere, even to him. Reborn's face was impossible to read as always.

"Yuni passed away peacefully; she was smiling until the end." This came from Gamma who had walked up to them, eyes still streaming with tears, or was it the rain? His face grief stricken but his smile was genuine.

"I take it that Giglio Nero was passed onto you?" Reborn gazed at the blond from his perch on Giotto's shoulder.

A nod of affirmation.

"What of the pacifier?"

At this the blond frowned, "I don't know. By the time we thought to check on it, it was already gone." His frown deepened, "We even tried finding it, to no avail, it's like it disappeared into thin air."

At this statement, Giotto felt his breath hitch as his intuition acted up and a sense of foreboding over took his senses.

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Same time. England.

Tsuna grunted as he navigated the narrow streets of London with ease on a roaring motorbike, trying to lose his pursuers. 'The Scaevita famiglia sure are persistent'. He took a sharp left, narrowly missing a large truck before continuing on. Why was he being chased? Because after hearing the news of Yuni's death a week ago he had been devastated, and resolved to help them out by taking out the Boss of the Scaevita famiglia. A family that had been making consistent attacks on Giglio Nero because they had rejected the Scaevita's offer of transporting merchandise into their territories.

'And for good reason too' thought the brunet bitterly, after much research and spying he had found out that the Scaevita prided themselves on the transport of merchandise of all kinds, especially of the illegal variety; drugs, weapons, you name it, they did it all. And the worst of it all was human trafficking. Tsuna scowled as he remembered the desperate faces of the people who had been chained, he had been so mad that he'd almost killed the guards. He had then freed everyone, making sure they had a path to safety before continuing on for his true target.

The Boss of the famiglia had been in his private chambers with a young girl, in the process of beating her when Tsuna had arrived. Tsuna had seen red before shooting the despicable man in the head, grabbing the girl and hightailing with her out of there. And that was why he was now in the middle of a high speed chase with a child wrapped around his waist, the helmet on her head as well as the foldable metal plate that he'd thought to bring along and had strapped to her back. The plate was an invention of Shoichi's so that any and all bullets were rebounded off the lighting flame reinforced metal.

He smirked when he realised he couldn't spot his pursuers anymore, the enemy were in cars, which meant that navigating the narrow London streets at evening rush hour for them would be near impossible. Slowing to a more legal pace he made sure to take the most complex path to his next destination, it wouldn't do to be followed.

Arriving at a series of warehouses situated near the Thames, he quickly got off, taking the girl with him before pushing the bike in. Coming out again he took off the helmet on the girl's head, revealing mousey brown hair and large grey eyes that blinked at him curiously. Smiling indulgently he unstrapped the metal plate from her back noting that there wasn't even a dent in it before folding it up and placing it into his backpack. Placing the helmet with the bike he closed the warehouse doors and turned to the girl, wondering what to do with her.

"What's your name?"

The girl fidgeted nervously, the teen before her had saved her from the bad men in suits and even though he had used the same weapon they had, he seemed nice and had a strange calming presence. "E-Emilia" she stuttered. Her voice had been so soft it was almost lost within the sounds of the lapping waves of the lake but Tsuna heard her.

"Hello Emilia, my name's Tsunayoshi but you can just call me Tsuna." The brunet crouched down so that he could look her in the eye before asking her, "Last name? What about your parents?"

The girl shook her head, clenching her eyes shut as tears started leaking out, "A-Aunt Lila t-took me to this smelly place and left me with those bad men. S-she said they would care for m-me and l-left."

Tsuna's eyes darkened when he heard this, how could anyone do such a thing? He had no doubt the woman had probably gotten money in return. In fact it reminded him somewhat of Chrome's situation, except she had been in a far worse condition when he'd found her. Shaking those thoughts off, he came to a decision.

First off, they needed to get to his safe house for a change of clothes and to bandage Emilia's wounds; luckily nothing looked broken. He also needed to wash off the temporary black dye in his hair, the stuff was gross. After that they would make their way to Italy.

He glanced back at the girl realising that the poor thing was probably very afraid to suddenly be at a place she didn't know. Reaching out, he gave the girl a hug; the child flinched before sinking into his warm embrace as tears started to fall uncontrollably. "Its ok to let it all out," he murmured, rubbing soothing circles into the child's back, "I'll find you a new family, one who'll love you for who you are."

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1 day later. Italy.

Among the jubilant yells of children running about stood a beautiful young woman, almost a teen really, humming as she folded up laundry and put them in the wicker basket at her side. She had long blonde hair that flowed to her waist and cheerful aqua eyes. Next to her stood another beauty helping her, this time definitely in her teenage years that had purple hair in an odd pineapple shape and one amethyst eye, the other covered by an eye patch.

"Tsuna!" The shout disrupted the peaceful atmosphere surrounding the two females and they turned to see the brunet struggling to walk out the back door of the Old Italian styled house, a child clinging to each leg and another unknown one in his arms.

The blonde's eyebrow rose, "Another stray, Tsuna?" She asked playfully.

The brunet rubbed the back of his head with his free hand sheepishly, "Sorry for dumping so many kids on you Elena." The girl in his arms squirmed, peeking shyly at the the females. The two that were still attached to Tsuna's legs were looking up curiously at the new child. "I would have brought her to mum but mum's got three kids already and Emilia here is English." At her name, the girl looked up into the kind older male's face wondering what he was saying.

Elena nodded, understanding, and smiled serenely at the girl. "Hello, my name's Elena. I'm in charge of this house; I'm very pleased to meet you." She took note of the bandages peeking out of the blouse the girl was wearing.

The girl gave a shy smile in return, warming up to the kind lady, "M-my name's Emilia, T-Tsuna talked about you. U-um..." the girl hesitated wondering how to word her question while everyone else waited patiently, "I-Is this an orphanage?" She didn't really want to be separated from the older boy who had saved her to never see him again.

Surprisingly it was Chrome who giggled and replied,"Not exactly, this is a place that Bossu brings people he finds who need a new home and a new family, there's another one like this in Japan. It's a place for you as yourself, to be happy."

The children attached to Tsuna cheered in agreement, having understood despite their limited knowledge of the English language. Tsuna put Emilia down and the children started chattering excitedly to her. She peeked at them shyly before smiling a little. When the children had introduced each other and asked her if she wanted to explore the house through broken English and hand gestures she looked up at Tsuna who nodded and said that he would still be here and needed to talk to the others.

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"So, where'd this one come from? This puts this house to 7 occupants not including me." stated Elena as she passed around mugs of hot chocolate. The three of them had moved to the kitchen, sitting around the island that jutted out of the wall.

Taking a sip, the brunet grimaced before replying, "She was a victim of human trafficking of the Scaevita family, sold to them by her aunt. She doesn't seem to have any parents." both Chrome's and Elena's eyes darkened upon hearing the news. "I'm hoping that this house will become more of a home to her, and I'm sure she'll get along well with the other children just fine."

"Of course she will!" Elena announced, standing up abruptly. "I'll make her feel at home to the best my ability!" determination flared in her eyes.

The brunet chuckled, "I have no doubt that if anyone can, it would be you."

Elena felt her cheeks heat up as she sat down huffing, "I swear you're becoming more and more like Signor Reborn. I liked it better when you were adorably cute, not that you aren't now." Putting a hand to her chin she mused, "Actually its more like double kill now, I mean; cute and charming?"

The brunet felt his own blush at the complement, looking away. Chrome, beside him, giggled. Turning to her he wondered, "Where are Ken and Chikusa? I thought Mukuro left them here to 'hold the fort' as he said?"

"They've gone out shopping for some groceries." Chrome felt herself laugh as she saw the brunet pale, "Don't worry, we gave Chikusa the list and a leash. I don't think Ken will try to buy a years supply of gum again."

"Lets hope not, otherwise I'll have to implement some new punishment." stated Elena, "Maybe making him do bathroom duty for the year."

As Elena devolved into coming up with various suitable punishments and Chrome listened on Tsuna could not help but smile at the familial warmth that surrounded the house that he had taken and made into a home for the various people he'd met over time. It was located near a small town in the northern half of Italy.

Besides Elena and Chrome, there was Ken and Chikusa, who he'd found along with Chrome and Mukuro, the 5 year old twins who had latched themselves onto his feet; Sunny and Sam, Ivan an 8 year old most likely cooped up in his room hacking into some secret files and now Emilia. At least, these were the more permanent of the residents, there were a few others who popped by to offer assistance or used the place as a getaway or safe house.

The place itself had a subtle but very effective security system and was connected to several other places via a maze of underground tunnels. This was just in case he or the others happened to attract unwanted visitors, which usually consisted of authorities, violent people from the underground world or even the odd monster or two.

"Um... Bossu."

He turned his attention back to Chrome, he had long since given up trying to get her to call him his name, he didn't even know why she stuck with a title in japanese of all things, in fact she'd taken a liking to using the japanese honorifics. Although when Elena had first met Chrome and heard her call him that, she had squealed like a rabid fangirl and glomped Chrome again (the first time was when she first laid eyes on the purplette) cooing about how cute the little moniker was.

"How long are you staying?"

His expression turned serious, and the two women followed suit. "As much as I'd love to stay and help Emilia get settled, I have a flight to catch in 5 hours."

"So soon?" Elena frowned, "what happened?"

"Someone's after me," was the cryptic reply.

"With your occupation I wouldn't be surprised." Elena stated dryly.

"I don't mean that someone's after me as in my assassin self, I mean that someone's after me, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Chrome gasped understanding and concern laced within her purple eye, "What happened in Namimori? Mama wasn't hurt was she?"

"No, mum wasn't involved, thank heavens for that. But Takeshi got hurt." Tsuna's expression became pained. "Kyoya contacted me when I was on my way here, he said that 'I' was destroyed and Takeshi was unconscious when he found them on Nami-chuu grounds, the culprit had already disappeared." The blonde woman opened her mouth to speak but Tsuna beat her to it. "Takeshi will be fine; he's just got a sprained wrist and a slight concussion from when he was knocked out. He didn't get to see who it was that attacked though."

"Whoever it was must have been strong," Chrome peered worriedly at Tsuna. "I mean, the 'you' there had been tested by both Mukuro-nii and Hibari-san, _together_." Oh yes, those two had had a field day trying to kill 'him' since 'he' wasn't real and it didn't matter to them if 'he' died.

The brunet just sighed, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed a hand over his eyes, "Yeah, that's why I have to go back and see if I can find any clues, plus my brother's going to blow a gasket when he hears of this and I'm sure he will."

Suddenly Elena let out a high pitched scream, startling the both of them. "Oh no, if you have to leave so soon that means we've only got about 2 hours left!"

Tsuna peered at her confusedly, "left for what?"

"For celebrating your 17th birthday, silly!"

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Some time later. Italy. Vongola mansion.

Giotto was busy signing some papers and reading over them, grumbling under his breath, while Reborn stood next to him gun pointed at his face. He couldn't believe the amount of paperwork that came with being a boss and no matter how much Grandfather Timoteo tried to sugar coat it; it certainly wasn't a thing he was looking forward to. Not to mention, here he was, stuck in his office at gun point, on his 17th birthday, his hyper intuition still giving him a headache, and with the smells of food wafting from the kitchens where he knew a ridiculously grand feast was being prepared. He could almost smell the delectable cake being baked...

He fell back with a loud cry as his face was forcefully pushed into the chair, the wheels spinning back with the momentum and then felt himself and the chair topple out the open window that had been behind him. There was a crash as the chair landed in the rose bushes below, Giotto himself floating in HDWM outside the window. "What the hell was that for Reborn!?"

"Don't drool on the paperwork Dame-Gio."

Flying back inside he gave his former-tutor another glare before extinguishing his flames, eyes returning to their natural blue colour. After yesterday, Reborn had returned with them to Vongola mansion, there had been a small celebration for his birthday, nothing too big although Dino had been there. Apparently he thought torturing Giotto would make up for the lack of celebration, the blond scowled. Then sobered as he realised this would be the first birthday he would celebrate without his twin. Wincing as his head throbbed as his hyper intuition acted up. 'Wait-' he blinked, was his intuition reacting to his thoughts on Tsuna?

"Giotto!" The door slammed open, revealing G and Asari. Both panting as if they'd run a marathon, which they probably did; the Vongola mansion was _huge_.

"What's wrong?" Reborn asked.

Giotto could feel trepidation rising in him at the uncharacteristic serious looks on his best friends' faces.

"Dad called, apparently Takeshi was attacked and..." Started Asari, eyes distressed.

"...Tsuna's missing." G finished.

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**A/N Would this amount to a cliff hanger? Oh well. And please don't kill me! Don't get me wrong I love Yuni, she's absolutely adorable. But its needed for my plot.**

**This is quite literally the first time I've ever written a fanfic and probably a year since I've done any creative writing. So ****Constructive Criticism and Reviews are welcomed!**

**Other than that, I will try to update when I can, but it will most likely be erratic. And I'm not sure if people prefer really long chapters like this, or shorter ones. Next chapter will have a few flash back scenes and OC's may be there but they don't play a big part of the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** As usual, my apologies for any grammar and spelling mistakes. As well as OOCness.

And thank you to all who reviewed, favourited and followed! I love all soo much! Whoo 20 reviews! I wasn't expecting so many for my first fic. xD I hope I can keep up with your standards. And yes, to those who guessed, that is the reason why Yuni died (hopefully this doesn't ruin the story). ;P Also Daemon has not met Elena yet, so Tsuna may take on the role of cupid later on. xD.

Warnings: Dark themes(?) Otherwise, Reborn's "tutoring"

**Disclaimer**: I do not own KHR, that belongs to Amano Akira.

Enjoy! :D

KHRKHR First Meeting KHRKHR

4 years ago. Namimori, Japan.

When Reborn arrived at the Sawada household, everything he had expected happened. Sawada Nana had taken his role as the tutor of Sawada Giotto in stride, never questioning how a baby could teach her son and the twins had reacted with scepticism, especially after hearing the news of their lineage and Giotto's role in the underground world of the mafia.

The twins had been identical in appearance (scrawny 13 year olds) but for their colouring, Tsunayoshi; brown haired and brown eyed, Giotto; blond hair and blue eyes. They shared many traits, such as their addiction to sweets, the way they held their chopsticks lopsided and the way that they slept like logs that nothing short of bodily harm could bring them out of. And yet, they were so different, Giotto had been the charismatic student president of Nami-Chuu and Tsuna had been known as Dame-Tsuna, an utterly useless person that was the target of many a bully. Giotto had done his best to protect his brother, but he couldn't be there all the time.

Giotto already had G as his Vice President when Reborn arrived and had interactions with some of his other future guardians, which Reborn had gleefully dragged in to become part of his Family. Daemon and Lampo had come later and Giotto had been quick to gain their trust.

Tsuna, on the other hand, had no one but his mother and brother. He was shy to the point that it was endearing and Reborn couldn't exactly fault Giotto for gushing over how adorable his little twin was and glomping the life out of him. But his shyness, the tendency to stutter uncontrollably around anyone he didn't know well (which was pretty much everyone) got on Reborn's nerves at times. And Giotto couldn't help either, what with the way the little brunet had all but hid every time he brought his friends over.

Although Reborn did find it interesting how well the brunet could blend into the background or how easily he snuck out of rooms without anyone noticing. He finally lost patience after the second week of his stay in the Sawada household, the brunet had barely made any sounds except to Giotto or his mother when they asked him something, he had looked at Reborn like he was the devil personified (which he was, but that's beside the point) and had avoided him like the plague.

Sure, the hitman was there to train Giotto to be the boss, but he couldn't have anyone bringing down the Vongola Decimo, most especially his twin brother. And he could easily see how much of a liability the brunet could become in the near future, particularly due to Giotto's overprotective streak when it came to his twin.

And so, with those thoughts in mind he had confronted the brunet and threatened him to better himself or the hitman would invade his dreams and haunt him for the rest of his sorry life. Needless to say the brunet had quickly agreed believing the baby to be capable of such things and Reborn had to resist the urge to chuckle at the brunet's expression. He had a feeling that Tsuna had also agreed because he didn't ever want to burden his brother.

Reborn took to checking the boy's homework every night and making sure he got everything right before letting him go to sleep, he supposed it was lucky that Giotto was at the top of most of his subjects unlike his former student, it meant more time to tortu- tutor the brunet.

When Giotto had found out and tried to stop the hitman, "Isn't it your job to tutor me, you don't need to involve my brother!" Surprisingly it was Tsuna himself who stood up to his brother (saving Baka-Gio from another painful training session) and said that he needed it (stuttering all the while) and Giotto eventually relented.

As soon as Tsuna was able to comprehend the most basic formulae and their uses in math, Reborn began to tutor both twins in the subject together. Because it was their worst subject, it entailed a large amount of property damage and screams of pain from both boys, to which the demonic hitman found his lips stretching to the most sadistic of smirks.

Reborn found that the brunet had a surprising learning curve or perhaps it wasn't surprising. The boy had been mercilessly teased and put down by students and teachers alike that by the time he had reached middle school; most teachers had given up on him. Giotto had done his best to try to teach his twin but extracurricular activities, student council work and his friends had taken up much of his time.

So Tsuna had been left to fend for himself for the most part, like a rabbit with no claws no worldly experience with barely any understanding of who he was and who he could be. So Reborn started arming him with knowledge and started to take pride in how the brunet paid attention to what he said despite all brunet's whining and subsequent injuries, to watch for that gleam in his eye as the new information wormed its way into his mind and clicked together like the perfect puzzle pieces.

The baby hitman found out early on that the brunet was average at best in science subjects, lower than average when it came to math (in Reborn's mind this seemed improbable but even with his Spartan methods the brunet took hours to remember even one formula and how to use it) but he had a talent for humanitarian subjects, to which Reborn had taken full advantage of and practically shoved several foreign dictionaries and history textbooks into the poor boy's skull whenever he could.

"W-Why do I n-need to learn all these l-languages?! I-I'm not e-even learning this i-in school!"

"Because it's useful, Dame-Tsuna."

"'U-Useful?!' Does a-anyone even speak L-Latin anymo-!"

BOOM!

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Present time. Vongola private jet. 10,000m above the Black Sea.

Now, Reborn knew that the Tsuna currently in Namimori was a decoy, the real one having gone to kill the boss of the Scaevita Famiglia. But the fake was no pushover. It was actually a robot made secretly by Spanner and Irie who were staying in Japan. The two mechanics would officially be integrated into Vongola after Giotto became the next boss. They were aware of what Tsuna was up to but would keep their mouths shut about it.

The robot itself was similar in appearance to his disciple, the mist flames stored in it could fool anyone into believing it was the real Tsunayoshi Sawada. The outer layers were reinforced titanium coated in lightning flames, the inner commands; besides imitating Tsuna's personality to a tee, consisted of various combative movements and artillery plus the flames stored in the robot made for a skilled opponent. All in all, it was difficult to take down. So whoever had managed to must be strong.

As for the real Tsuna, the last contact the hitman had received was a short text confirming that the target had been eliminated yesterday. He knew that his student would be one of the first to be informed on what happened, so most likely the teen was already making his way toward Namimori and had probably deduced that Giotto would be informed what with Yamamoto Takeshi's involvement. Now it was all a matter of inventing a believable lie for why he was there and well when it seemed like he had been kidnapped, plus doing it in a way to fool his brother's intuition.

'What a bother.' He thought to himself. Then again, taking on Tsuna as a student to learn from him how to, not become a boss, but to become a full fledged hitman meant that such secrecy was needed. He had taken a large risk in doing so but had found himself incapable of letting go of such immense potential.

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Flashback, 3 years ago. Namimori Japan (Tsuna is 14)

"Teach me how to kill."

Reborn almost dropped his gun at the uncharacteristic question that came from the brunet's mouth. He had to blink several times to even comprehend who was asking. Turning to the boy they stared at each other as a weighted silence descended over them.

It was a cool night, they had recently returned from a crazy trip to the future and just finished celebrating their safe return, now everyone else was asleep the only sounds the soft snores from Giotto, G and Asari who were staying over. Reborn and Tsuna were on the patio at the back of the house.

After several moments of studying the brunet's face and finding it devoid of emotion, Reborn turned back to his cleaning his gun, "Why would I teach you something like that?"

"You're a hitman aren't you?"

"Why would you want to learn to kill?"

Silence. Reborn turned back to examine the boy, but the boy had lowered his head, brown bangs obscuring his face. However, his hands were clenched at his sides, white-knuckled from the pressure.

"Baka-Gio might have 'killed' Byakuran in the future, but that doesn't necessitate you having to learn how to spill blood on your hands too."

"I don't..." Tsuna hesitated, and then gave an exasperated sigh as he flopped down beside the hitman. Tilting his head up he gazed at the night sky, most of the stars obscured by the pollution but a few determined ones twinkled in the endless black. "I don't... really want to learn how to kill per se, but I do want to help my brother... Going to the future made me realise that... there are so many types of people in this world and not all of them are just going to stop doing something just because they get told it's not right. Some people will keep going, keep pushing against human morals until someone else stops them, permanently. And so many of those types of people belong in the world Giotto's going to be a part of, my friends and family _will_ be a part of. I can't just sit still knowing that they will become prime targets for people in the Mafia. I just can't."

He turned to face Reborn; eyes now glowing an eerie determined orange, a faint flame seemed to flicker on his forehead. "I _know_ I can help him, that I wont always be a burden, it's just a gut feeling I have. And I have helped him. It's just..." His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at his lap, "Giotto keeps pushing me away, keeps pushing me out of _harms_ way and using himself as a shield whenever he thinks I'm in danger. Even though I've told him so many times he doesn't need to, he still tries to. Even with Fon-Sensei's training he still thinks I'm weak and helpless."

Reborn kept silent, watching the brunet critically, waiting for him to say what he needed to.

Tsuna huffed and then flopped onto his back. "Giotto wants to change the mafia, if he has to join it he will change it, he keeps denying that he will become boss but I think his heart has already resigned itself to its fate. Especially since so many others are involved like G-san and Lampo-san and Daemon-san." The brunet grimaced a bit here, Daemon still creeped him out. "And I know not everyone in the mafia is bad, you can't help what you're born in to after all, nor the circumstances you end up in, like Fon-Sensei and I-pin-chan and... And..." Tsuna turned to his side; toward the hitman again, his hard orange gaze boring into endless obsidian. "...You." His gaze turned imploring, "I want to help."

Reborn wasn't sure weather the brunet wanted to help the hitman or his brother or perhaps everyone in general. Yet his gaze caught the hitman, the determined sheen and the untapped potential usually hidden under a quivering gaze was now staring the hitman in the face. He found that he couldn't turn away, didn't want to, really. In his own way the boy was opening himself up to him, leaving himself vulnerable, letting the hitman decide whether he should make or break the boy.

And staring into those eyes, seeing how much the boy trusted him and the raw honesty emanating from small, yet strangely stubborn, figure in front of him. Made him want to give in, not to the boy's request, but to his own inner urge to teach the boy; something that he wasn't even sure when it had started.

Perhaps it had been when Baka-Giotto and his friends had almost been caught by the Millefiore, having been easily taken out due to too many consecutive fights, and the brunet had appeared on the scene taking out all the opponents with only the skills Fon had managed the cram into him in the 6 months prior, his intuition and a determination to protect that glazed his eyes a fiery orange hue. Perhaps it had been before that, when the Varia had appeared and the still shy timid boy had stood tall in front of his brother against the rage of Xanxus. Or even before that, when he had saved Yamamoto Takeshi from falling to his death.

But he couldn't, he was limited by the order's of the Ninth, there was only so much he was allowed to teach the brunet; his studies, perhaps some self defence (which he called Fon over for), but definitely not anything to do with flames and the mafia. His time to teach was meant solely for the future Vongola Decimo and Tsuna had not been chosen. A scowl made its way onto his face, these facts and more had played about his mind like a mantra for the last several months. He wasn't sure when the number one hitman needed to follow the limitations placed by other people but professionalism deemed that he needed the trust of his employers and for that, he had to follow the rules.

Not that Giotto wouldn't be a perfect boss by the time Reborn was done with him, no. Both twins had enough potential to make a blind man see, all they needed was the right motivation, the right hands to mould them and they would become influential beings in their own right. Sometimes Reborn wasn't sure how both Iemitsu and Giotto could be so blind or perhaps for the latter's case, a great case of denial.

"Perhaps this is selfish of me." Tsuna's voice snapped Reborn from his inner musings. "Y-you're busy with Giotto, right? And that's why you asked Fon-sensei to come and teach me when I asked you to teach me how to fight." The brunet's voice was soft, forlorn. He had tuned over, back to Reborn, cheek resting on the cool surface of the wooden patio, legs brought up so that he could wrap his arms around them.

"Why me?" Reborn was truly curious about this, why would the brunet, the very same brunet who had cowered away from him during their first few meetings, want _him_ to teach him, "You could ask Fon." Reborn quashed the spark of what was definitely _not_ jealousy as he said this.

"Fon-sensei told me that he has to leave soon, he's not allied to the Vongola and has his own job he needs to get back to." Tsuna shifted a little, moving his cheek to another spot sighing as the cool wood met his skin. "Don't get me wrong, I love training with him, he is nice and calming, and his training is harsh but sound, but I feel like he isn't the one for me..."

Reborn quirked an eyebrow at that, "and I am?"

Tsuna's body stilled for a moment before abruptly turning to Reborn, all of a sudden much closer than before, close enough that Reborn could catch the soft sweet scent that wafted around the boy and within touching distance of his infantile hands.

The brunet just stared at Reborn as if searching for something, as if the hitman's face had the answers to everything the boy wanted to know. Then the brunet's eyes closed and a bare breath of an answer slipped from his lips to brush Reborn's chubby cheeks "...yes."

Reborn froze, he would have asked why the brunet was so sure he was the one, but he had a feeling that the brunet himself didn't know. Was it his hyper intuition? Reborn did wonder what the odds were that both twins would posses the coveted power to such a degree, neither Iemitsu nor the Ninth ever showed such great degrees of knowledge, but he digressed.

Turning his attention back to the brunet in front of him he realised that the boy, for all intents and purposes, looked asleep. The hitman knew better though, even in the dim light of the sliver of moon in the sky, he could make out the slight shifting of eyes behind closed eyelids and the very slight hitch of breath as Reborn leaned forward to brush chocolate coloured hair out of the way.

"If I do teach you, and that's a big if, it will have to be in secret."

The eyes snapped open to stare wonderingly at the hitman, the hitman refused to react to the hope shining in the large honey orbs, "I know." The words held more weight than the tone indicated, but the hitman could see that the brunet did understand that he was aware that this would be a risk that would put the hitman's own reputation at risk. The brunet pushed himself up, sitting upright in seiza position, much like he would for Fon's explanations. Reborn could feel the urge to smile and quickly lowered his fedora.

"I won't be teaching you the same things that your twin's been learning, I'm going to be teaching you how to fight, how to survive... how to kill." He watched as the brunet flinched at the last word. "That's what it means to be a hitman, an assassin." He needed to make sure the brunet knew what he was asking for and what he was getting in to. If the hitman was going to taint this innocent soul, he needed the soul to be ready. "Do you think you're ready to take on such a burden?"

The brunet had his eyes closed as he took a deep breath, shoulders tense. His eyes opened to reveal glowing quartz orange, brighter than the setting sun.

"Yes."

That one word held a world of determination and resolve that took Reborn's breath away. He lowered his fedora, keeping his eyes on the brunet's own, as he let his lips stretch into a sardonic smirk.

"Good, we'll start tonight."

The brunet's features became confused, the orange sheen receding once again. "Eh? W-wait, _now_?!"

"The sooner we start the better, and we certainly can't during the day."

"B-but-!"

"Don't worry; we'll up the training after Fon leaves. Now start running, your stamina's still pathetic."

"W-wai-! Hiiieeeeee! Don't shoot Reborn!"

He would not regret this decision, if there was one thing Reborn lived by, it was to do everything with your dying will.

KHRKHR Flashback End KHRKHR

Reborn glanced at the blonde sitting across from him in the jet, he could discern the obvious worry evident in the way he couldn't seem to sit still; fingers twisting into the hem of his dress shirt, the way the eyes shifted restlessly and the worrying of the lip (the twins were uncannily similar in the way they showed concern). Asari, to his left, was no better and neither was G to his right.

He huffed audibly, attracting the three teen's attentions, "Don't worry so much, Dame-Tsuna can take care of himself, he probably managed to get away and is staying low so the enemy can't find him."

"But, Takeshi-" Asari started.

"Yes, he was most likely helping and got knocked out in the process, Tsuna's not the type to leave anyone behind but he probably fled knowing that the enemy would go after him and not hurt Yamamoto further and so Yamamoto's injuries are not as bad you thought; a sprained wrist and a slight concussion, with Knuckles' sun flame it'll be healed in no time."

"That's right! To the limit!" Was the exuberant boxer's reply.

"Reborn-san, as much as I am aware that the brat can take care of himself, Flute-freak's brother isn't a pushover since they learned swords together. Doesn't this mean that the enemy, whoever it is, must be pretty strong? Especially if whoever it is can make the kid, who was trained by Fon-san, flee? Assuming of course that he managed to get away."

Reborn just lowered his fedora and turned his head toward Giotto. G's eyes trailed to his best friend and saw that his head was lowered, long blond bangs shadowing his face. And the red-head's usual scowl came back. Reaching over he gave the blond a fierce smack up side the head, watching as Giotto gave a startled yelp and blinked at him confusedly.

"G? What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot, obviously!"

"Maa maa, Giotto, you shouldn't be thinking such things!"

"God wouldn't want such thoughts to be in your head, Giotto, and neither would your brother..." Everyone stared at the boxer who suddenly seemed to actually be aware of what was going on. "...TO THE LIMIT!" And consequently face faulted.

"How would you guys know of what's going through my head!?" Giotto yelled and then paled. "...Don't tell me Reborn's ability to read minds is infectious." He was starting to look blue now. "But I can't read any of your minds!"

"No you idiota! You're like an open book! I bet you're blaming yourself when you had nothing to do with it!"

Giotto's face scrunched up, "but it is my fault isn't it?" he asked quietly, fists clenching. "I'm the Vongola Decimo, there's no other reason for anyone to be after my brother."

There were plenty of reasons, but Reborn wouldn't be the one to tell him. And if he and Tsuna were lucky, Giotto would never find out.

"This is why you're an idiot! You're dad's in the mafia but neither you nor your brother and mum were targeted, it was ensured that their whereabouts where left unknown, so whoever attacked must have caught wind due to someone else's carelessness, not yours! Even if you weren't the Decimo, that doesn't mean that there would be no assassins after them, someone must have gotten lucky, but it is definitely _not_ your fault!" G started panting from the long speech he just gave while Giotto, Asari and Knuckles stared in awe.

Reborn just lowered his fedora, a genuine smile on his lips. 'This is what Family is for.'

"B-but-!"

Reborn launched into one of his infamous moves, deemed to be named 'Head Meets Foot in an Epic Clash' by one of his many fans. Standing on the downed Giotto's steaming head, he let a sadistic smirk overtake his expression.

"Baka-Gio, if you've got nothing better to do than to whine and be an idiot, why don't you finish the paperwork assigned to you by the Ninth?"

"Eh, kid. You brought Giotto's paperwork with you?" Asari scratched his head in confusion. "Where is it?"

"Behind you."

The teens turned as one (Giotto just turned his head to the side) and gaped wide eyed at the wall of white stacks of paper.

"Extreme paperwork TO THE LIMIT!"

Giotto's high pitched scream or terror could be heard all the way to Kazakhstan.

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Namimori, Japan.

Tsuna couldn't help but smile as he rode into Namimori on bike. The town had been his home for the majority of his life and although travelling to different countries made for interesting and revitalising experiences. It just wasn't the same as the taste of home.

He had arrived from Tokyo airport via motorbike before leaving said bike at a friend's place and exchanging it for a bicycle. Now he was riding through the market place heading for the hospital, swerving to avoid people and traffic alike, while enjoying the wind whipping through his hair and the fresh scent of spring leaves in the air. He'd only left a week ago and it already felt like a lifetime.

Upon arriving at the hospital, he left the bike outside and rushed up the service desk, the nurse scowled at him and he shuddered inwardly. This particular nurse favoured keeping patients in beds and didn't condone well to _anyone_ leaving early.

The fact that she had the strength to tear a gurney in half (mattress, metal frame and all) didn't bode well to any patients who were liable to try to escape early. Even Kyoya and Alaude (despite pretty much owning the hospital) were forced to stay when she kept watch, especially after the first incident which resulted in many broken tonfa, handcuffs and the cousins forcibly tied to the beds with their own weapons.

"I-is Yamamoto Takeshi here, Nurse Aika?" Tsuna inwardly cursed his stutter.

The nurse's eyes narrowed dangerously; if he hadn't seen Reborn he was sure he'd be a quivering mass of goo by now. Instead he just stood there and tried to look as innocuous as possible; which, according to Reborn, was the one thing he was good at.

Seeing the teen in front of her wasn't going to cause trouble, the nurse grunted before stating, "Room 180." The teen bowed and thanked her before turning to go. "Try anything funny and you'll know what to expect, Sawada Tsunayoshi, the crowd you run with is always prone to injury."

Tsuna cried inwardly, the nurse still remembered them. He was pretty sure Giotto and every one of his guardians had ended up here at some point as well as himself, Asari's brother; Takeshi, Knuckles' brother; Ryohei and Kyoya. That meant many memorable visits to the hospital, especially given how violent, loud and crazy they all were.

Reaching Room 180 he heaved a sigh before reaching for the knob. "Takeshi-" he stopped short to gape at the scene before him. Takeshi himself didn't look bad, there were only a few bandages wrapped around his wrist from what the brunet could see. But the chains strapping the taller teen down to the bed plus the oversized padlock that looked reminiscent of the chain and ball prisoners used to wear sure looked daunting, there were even bars on the window!

"Oh, hey Tsuna! How was your trip? And don't worry, Hibird checked for listening devices already!" Was the typical Yamamoto Takeshi greeting.

Tsuna just continued to stare at the restraints as he closed the door behind him.

Takeshi noticed and chuckled good-naturedly, "Ahaha, I tried to get out because I felt fine and Dad needs help with the shop so I couldn't just sleep forever."

"Your wrist is sprained, isn't it?" Was Tsuna's concerned reply, eyes glued to the appendage as the raven haired boy wriggled it.

"Its fine, so you better not go blaming yourself," here Takeshi's expression turned momentarily serious, before brightening again, "And I don't need both my hands to help Dad around the shop!"

The brunet gave a resigned sigh before making his way over to the chair by the bed, careful to step over the large padlock. "I really don't think you are in any position to move at the moment." He said dryly, eyeing the chains warily.

Takeshi grinned as he scratched the back of his head with his free arm sheepishly, "I forgot about Nurse Aika, it's sure been awhile since I had to go to the hospital."

Tsuna look scandalized, "how could you forget after what she did to the Hibaris?!"

"Who knows, ahaha."

Tsuna resisted the urge to facepalm as he took hold of the injured hand, trying to peek under the bandages and winced when the dark blue hues became apparent. The wrist was swollen and bruised badly, he hoped that it would heal faster or maybe he could ask Onii-san to come up.

"The guy who attacked..."

Tsuna looked up to see an uncharacteristic frown cross the raven teen's features.

"I don't think you should face him, Tsuna."

"That bad?"

Takeshi gripped his sheets with his free hand. "He came close to me and I couldn't even sense him, it was only by instinct that I reacted fast enough to draw my sword and it was too late by then, he was close enough to knock Shigure Kintoki from my hand and knock me out and I didn't even get a glimpse of his face. Even 'you' didn't sense him, and 'you' have that flame sensing thingy that Irie was talking about."

"Flame receptors." Corrected the brunet absent mindedly as he pondered on whom on earth could get close to Takeshi and 'himself' without being detected. "What happened to 'me'? Kyoya just said that 'I' was 'bitten by a rabid herbivore who would be bitten to death' by him."

The raven head grinned at the catch-phrase and Tsuna couldn't help smiling back, they both knew it was the skylark's way to show he cared when he mentioned biting an enemy of their's to death.

"Well, I was knocked out, but both Shōichi and Spanner looked really upset when they came to visit me. Or well, Shōichi looked upset and Spanner was just frowning a bit, but you get what I mean."

He did indeed. His robotic counter part must have been really mangled up if Spanner and Shōichi couldn't salvage it. And it happened to be a favourite project for them too. Not to mention the amount of flames his friends and he had expended into it.

"How is everyone else?" The brunet wondered, peering at Takeshi.

The taller teen got the message easily and his characteristic grin stretched his features. "Mama thinks that you're staying at my place still." Tsuna smiled as Takeshi blushed a bit as he called his mum that. The reason why 'he' stayed at Takeshushi was to lessen suspicion because although the robot could play 'him' perfectly, it wasn't human and eating and showering didn't sit too well with the delicate mechanics inside.

"That's good to know." He grimaced a little, he hated having to lie to his mum so much about what he was up to, and it reminded him too much of what his dad did. His only respite from the guilt was the fact that he made sure to never leave her alone; Lambo, I-pin and Fuuta were a godsend. Otherwise he would never work up the courage to leave his mother like that. And his robot self made for a good cover to reassure her he was safe.

"So the only issue is my brother." He put his finger on his bottom lip, nibbling the finger nail as he wriggled his nose in thought. Maybe they should tackle that problem when it came; there was no doubt in his mind that Giotto would be here soon. 'And Reborn's with him too, if the text I got is anything to go by.' He started a little when he felt a hand on his head ruffling his hair. Peeking through his bangs he wondered what Takeshi was up to.

Takeshi just grinned, "Sorry Tsuna, you were too cute to resist!"

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**A/N** Sorry for the lack of action. And another OC, I felt like writing someone epically intense with a passion for healing people, though fear. :3

I hope the emotions for Reborn and Tsuna were conveyed properly. Also, because I'm pretty much creating plot as I write, I'm up for suggestions about things you might like to see. Like flashbacks about how Tsuna met certain people or even missions he went on with or without Reborn. It makes for good character build-up.

Plus, I've got a bit of a block for chapter 3. OTL It'll come out later but I really need to finish my assignments. Cries.

Next Chapter will have a bit more on Robo-Tsuna and hopefully more action plus another flashback if it fits.

Reviews are loved! 8)


	3. Extra: Mission EI27

**A/N **This is the flashback scene meant for the top half of chapter 3 but it's too long so I decided to split it in half. This is not necessary for the main story but it gives you a good idea of what Tsuna's life is/was like. Also, I asked my best friend to beta for me but she's lazy (and proud of it), so I'm posting this up now but will be replacing it later, this doesn't change much, just some grammar and spelling mistakes corrected.

**Warnings**: A bit of blood, gore and violence.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own KHR

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Aosta, Italy. 3 years ago. (Tsuna is 14)

'Just what am I doing here?'

Tsuna was walking toward his new dorm room. He was dressed in a navy plaid skirt, white dress shirt, navy tie, white knee high socks with a pair of Mary Janes and a red sleeveless vest with the school's crest embellished on it. Ha also had a wig of long brown hair and make-up on. He could not believe that on top of being forced to go through with this mission, Reborn had forced him to learn how to apply make-up like a professional. He swore the sadistic baby just enjoyed seeing him in a skirt. 'It's not my bloody fault I look and sound like a girl, I can't wait for my growth spurt.'

He was currently in Rosa; a renowned Lady's College for training young ladies in the mafia. Subjects included the usual math, sciences, histories, geography, hospitality, and the more unusual poisons, hand-to-hand combat, firearms, deception, manipulation and so on.

It had the usual dog eat dog (or bitch eat bitch) mentality of the underworld where only the best survived. But it was so much worse at the same time. Tsuna had never thought he would say this, but women were quite possibly the scariest things in the world. Reborn had forced him (strapped to an electric chair) to watch videos of dealings between female Mafioso and interactions between the students at the school so he could get an idea of what he'd be facing.

He had concluded that though there were women who could shoot and fight just as well as men, they could be so much more deceitful when it came to just interacting. The common doe eyed girl could turn to you all innocent and honey-tongued, making little suggestions that seemed so harmless and the end result could be losing all your money and fortune or even your life.

When it was males, it was a battle of pride, a show of strength, of who held the most power and who had enough intellect to avoid being manipulated by the other party. When it was women it was less about pride and strength, and more about beauty, being covert and dangerous, and avoiding manipulation or falling for it in order to do more manipulation inside under a guise and coming out on top. And god help anyone who got into an argument with an experienced female Mafioso, Tsuna shuddered.

He was posing as a Japanese exchange student whose father had ties to the Tsuyo-kai, an actual yakuza whose main base was in Osaka. Tsuna had been horrified when he heard Reborn asking Tozaki if he could represent their family and devastated when the crazy teen had wholeheartedly agreed in exchange for a photo of Tsuna in uniform. At least he was only going here for a temporary amount of time; Reborn could only keep Giotto away at totur-_training_ camp for so long.

He reached his room, dragging his small luggage bag behind him. Opening the door he found a small but relatively grand room with two single beds, bedside tables and lamps, two study desks and a wardrobe, there was a door leading to a bathroom and a small fridge. The carpet was a crème colour and lavender curtains hung at the window that looked two stories down to the grand fountain at the centre of the courtyard. Tsuna sweat dropped, 'how mafia-like, to be so gaudy.'

His mission was to obtain the hard copies of a file about a possible target for Reborn; there had been rumours that one of the students here was tampering with the wrong things; not weapons but something to do with flames and curses. And that apparently endangered the Tri-ni-Sette.

"Oh, are you the new exchange student?"

Tsuna turned to see a pretty blonde teen a few years older than him. She had long blonde hair and observant aqua eyes that sparkled as she looked at him. He wasn't too sure he wanted to know what that meant and so did a Japanese bow as he said, "Yes, pleased to meet you, my name's Nadeshiko Tsuyo, please take care of me.

He straightened, blinking curiously as the teen stared at him in silence, and then tilted his head nervously. 'Had he done something wrong? Did he forget to stuff the bra properly and look weird? Was he-'

His train of thought was cut off as he was engulfed in a choking hold and the female's cheek started to rub against his. He could feel his face flush bright red. 'Hieeeee! What is she doing?!'

"Awww, you're soo cute! I'm Elena de Luca! You can ask me anything you want!"

She let go long enough for him to breathe and looked at his face, "I hear you're staying to get a feel for Italian schooling and might stay longer if you like it, I hope to make you feel welcome!"

Tsuna decided that he liked this woman despite her hugs that were almost as bad as Giotto's. He could tell she was a good person, intelligent and kind just from her eyes.

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Tsuna sighed as he got out of the shower, towelling his hair dry and clicked on the hairdryer, he didn't usually dry his hair like this but he needed to put the wig back on. Besides getting used to sitting with his legs closed, today had been rather boring; just Math, Chemistry, Poisons (thank god he was forced through Bianchi's 'lessons'), Mafia History and Manipulation.

He had been introduced and presented himself as a shy, demure girl that was every bit her namesake. Then the classes began and he noted the differences to Japanese schooling; he was expected to go to each class rather than staying in the same room and switching teachers and the more 'specialised' classes didn't even have the same students. The school consisted of middle through to high school grades (years 7-12) unlike the usually separated version that Japanese schools had.

Elena was two grades above him and so he didn't get to see her, the other girls just ignored him, asked him questions or looked at him in disdain, which he didn't get ('It's jealousy, Dame-Tsuna.'). The ones who asked him questions soon dismissed him when they realised that he was just a distant relative to the Head of the Tsuyo-kai and had no influential power besides being married off.

At lunch however, something did perk his interests. He had taken to exploring the school, (blueprints were all well and good but Tsuna was so directionally challenged not even Reborn's Spartan ways could cure it fully) and had stopped by a window next to the reception room looking into a central courtyard, he was examining the ventilation when he heard a cry from outside.

A girl with red hair was on the ground with several others surrounding her, cradling her cheek. Tsuna couldn't hear exactly what they were yelling but Reborn did drill lip-reading into him.

"You're so stupid! Can't even score into the double digits can you?!" The girl had started crying. "And who calls themselves in third person idiota!" Now she was bawling. "Crying won't get you anywhere, stupid Sam!" Tsuna's eyes narrowed, he had enough personal experience when it came to bullies but this was just cruel and to a girl no less. His intuition seemed to perk a bit as he looked at the girl but he couldn't read into it. He was prepared to jump out the window and break his act when someone else beat him to it.

"Stop that! What gives you the right to bully her like that?!" Surprisingly it was Elena who stormed in and stood defensively in front of the girl.

The bullies just sneered at her, "So little miss goodie two shoes comes to the rescue, what else are you going to do, huh? This is the mafia, not some place for world peace preachers like you." But the bullies looked wary of Elena and just turned away with a huff while the blonde glared at them, aqua eyes flashing.

When they had gone Elena turned back to helped the girl up, "Are you okay, Sam?"

The girl sniffled a bit before giving a bright smile, "Yeah, Sam is okay. Sam thinks those mean girls just like to be mean." And Elena just smiled sadly in reply.

Now that Tsuna could see her face properly he could see the grass green eyes framed by a short bob haircut that shone with an innocence that seemed strange in this place.

After that the two had left together and Tsuna was left to his own musings.

Tsuna huffed as he exited the bathroom, wishing he could help the girl in some way and Elena too. It seemed that the blonde didn't particularly like the crime-filled life of the mafia, he glanced at the bed on the other side of the room to find the teen asleep.

Crawling into his covers he decided on a short nap and then he would go and get what he'd come to obtain.

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Tsuna grunted as he made his way down the shaft. He had opted for going through the ventilation so he wouldn't have to face the security detail patrolling the school grounds and hallways. Putting the torch between his teeth, he took another look at his map and deduced that he'd finally arrived.

He carefully unscrewed the grate and leapt out onto a filing cabinet before screwing it back on again. He didn't have to worry about cameras as he received a strange gadget that looked like a yoyo from Shōichi that blocked all electronics in a five foot radius when it was turned on. He was grateful for it when he saw the laser beams that were in the ventilation.

He had changed out of girl's clothes and now wore a plain black shirt, baggy black pants and canvas shoes as well as a small back pack that held necessities and his wig just in case he needed it.

Looking through the filing cabinet marked 'A' he was quick to find the file on Angela Androssa; the possible target. There was a school photo of her (olive skin, dark green eyes and black hair) on the front and several pages about her academic records, contacts and personal information as well as research findings from her lab; which was what Reborn wanted. Taking those pages out he replaced the file and closed the cabinet, leaving everything as it was.

He had to get out before the security managing the cameras came to check what was wrong with the cameras in the Filing Room. He was going to climb up to the ventilation again but his intuition acted up, directing him past the Reception Room and out into the hall. No guards were around as he headed toward his room, still following his intuition.

Then he heard it, soft voices; one of which sounded like a child. He donned the wig as he moved past the corner and could make out the girl from before talking to a child standing on a window. The child was wearing a red kung-fu robe and looked Chinese, she spoke in broken Italian. She looked somewhat familiar to Tsuna.

"Where target?" she was holding out a photo that Tsuna couldn't make out in the moonlight.

The other girl had backed away with eyes full of fear, "Y-you want to find A-Angela?" Her voice was small, almost childish, and afraid.

Tsuna's eyes widened, he had just remembered where he'd seen the child from, it was a photo Fon-sensei had shown to him almost a year ago. He was so surprised he'd gasped, "I-pin?!" And then cursed himself as the two turned to him abruptly.

He then had to dodge a kick to the head and held his breath so he wouldn't fall to the effects of gyoza-kenpo.

"Who you? Why know I-pin?!"

"F-from Fon-sensei!" He choked out.

The little girl stopped. "Know master?"

"A-Ahh, yes." Tsuna scratched his head awkwardly, 'what a way to blow your cover, Tsuna!'

He turned to look at a wide eyed Sam and smiled reassuringly, "are you okay, Sam-!" He stopped short as he realised what his intuition had been hinting at, "You're not Sam?" He asked in confusion, she looked just like the girl from this afternoon.

The girl gasped in fear and turned to run except she was stopped short when another Sam ran toward them, gasping and eyes wide with shock.

"Sam!" Called the first girl as she ran to the one who'd just arrived, clinging to her. "You shouldn't be here! What if-!"

Suddenly a bright storm flame engulfed the real Sam, the other one letting go instantly and backing away on shaky legs to land on her ass. Tsuna just stared in confusion and trepidation while I-pin leapt to his shoulder.

The flame grew brighter and brighter until it got so blinding everyone had to look away. As Tsuna blinked away the spots in his vision he found himself staring at a child, barely three, with red hair in a bob cut and teary grass green eyes.

"Sam?"

And it hit him like a truck; why the girl couldn't score high marks, why she spoken in third person, why she moved about clumsily as if not used to her own limbs.

"Is this your real age?"

The girl gave a teary nod in reply while the other girl, the older Sam look-alike, gasped and said, "You can't tell! A-Angela will be-!"

"A-Angela is- i-is-!" Sam gasped out.

Tsuna decided that the show needed to move when he heard foot steps running in their direction; no doubt the light and the noise had attracted the guards. So he hoisted the teen red-head across his shoulder ignoring the startled yelp, grabbed Sam around her waist and I-pin was still on his shoulder. Then legged it.

"Sam, which room is Angela in?" He needed to check on the potential target, though he wasn't blind to the fear the girls had shown when mentioning the other.

"T-There!" The girl stuttered. He dived into the room and found himself in some sort of make-shift lab. Putting the girls down he glanced around cautiously and heard a choked gasp from the teen-Sam, looking in the direction of her eyes he felt his stomach flip as he saw the body of the potential target, there was a large gash in the middle of her chest bits of bone and other things the brunet didn't want to think about visible. Her face was frozen, blank eyes opened wide in fear.

It was like being in a nightmare, the blood looked like ink in the light of night and the silence was deafening. He had enough tact to grab I-pin and Sam tucking them on his shoulder against his head with a whispered, "don't look." before covering the other Sam's eyes and turning her head away.

He dragged them all back to the door and turned to Sam. "Did you see who attacked?"

The girl nodded, "there was this m-masked man who a-appeared out of n-nowhere and hit A-Angela, I r-ran away after t-that." She was starting to cry again and Tsuna patted her reassuringly. Teen-Sam was still in shock and I-pin was trying to comfort her.

Turning around he walked back and grabbed what research material he could; Reborn would want them. Trying his best to ignore the body, he hadn't killed yet but he'd seen the dead before and it never got any easier. Then he turned to the remaining books, picked one up and set it on fire with his flames. He'd decided that he couldn't stay any longer, there was too much chaos and he got what was needed anyway.

Going back to the girls, he picked them up; this time giving teen-Sam a piggy back, and headed back to his room. Leaving the burning book with the others, knowing that the fire would be a good distraction, 'hopefully nothing explosive was in there'.

Opening the door, he crept in, gesturing for the three to be quiet as he headed for his bags. What he didn't count on was tripping and landing on Elena's bed and then being held in a choke hold with two fingers pressing dangerously close to the pressure point at his neck. 'HIEEEE! If this doesn't kill me, Reborn will!'

"Nadeshiko?"

"A-Ah, Elena..." Was his reply.

"What are you doing? Oh, did you want to join me? I've always wanted to cuddle a little sister in bed!" She cooed as she exchanged her hold for a less lethal one, rubbing her cheek against his. He spluttered, wondering why she kept doing this to him, he wasn't that cute was he?

Then she seemed to notice other people in the room as she stiffened, then reached over to open the bedside lamp.

"Sam...? I never knew you had a little sister! And who's this?"

Tsuna slowly moved off the bed and out of Elena's hold. They needed to get out of here, he could already hear sirens blaring as the fire set on course and winced as he heard a large 'BOOM!' Obviously his wish for nothing explosive was not met, what could he expect with his luck?

He still had no idea why Sam had changed from a teen to a little girl of three but he suspected that it had something to do with whatever Angela had been tampering with, and now that he thought of it...

"Um, hey, sorry but I don't know your name. Are you three also?" he asked the teen-Sam look-alike.

The girl looked at him nervously, still in shock, but nodded shakily. "Sunny's name is Sunny."

Elena looked up from where she was cuddling I-pin and Sam, her eyes curious. "What's going on? There's a loud ruckus outside." She looked pointedly at Tsuna, "you wouldn't have anything to do with it would you?"

Tsuna headed to his bags, he felt no harm in telling the blond anything; there was that gut feeling that he could trust her. Plus the kids and Sunny (who he supposed was a kid anyway) seemed to calm in her presence. So he explained the situation from where he found the girls as quickly and succinctly as possible (Kyoya would be proud) ending with, "We've got to leave, it's too dangerous to stay."

He had his bag ready by now and raised a brow when he saw Elena had her own. She just smirked back deviously, "if you're blowing this joint, I'm coming with you. I hate the mafia life."

"Parents?"

"My Dad wants nothing more than to marry me off for his own gains and Mum just doesn't care," she scoffed, scooping up Sam and taking Sunny's hand. "Besides, I'm 16; I can take care of myself."

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"You know how to hijack cars? And drive?"

Tsuna just hummed in reply. They'd crept into the school's garage and Tsuna had used a gadget of Spanner's to get into the Hummer (most likely belonging to a guard) and turn it on. He'd have to ditch it later since it had an online GPS which was traceable, but for now it was useful.

There were leaving behind a half destroyed flaming school, Tsuna winced, what had been in that lab? He hoped nobody got too badly hurt though.

Elena had managed to get the gist of what had happened to the twins, as Sunny and Sam had confirmed, and it made Tsuna's blood boil. Their parents were servants who worked and died for the Androssa famiglia. Angela had requested for them to be brought over and basically used them as guinea pigs for her experiments. This made them change from child to teen every 5 hours or so and they had been forced to attend the school as a student, 'Sam', switching places as they changed.

Tsuna had coaxed an explanation from I-pin in hesitant Mandarin (he was still learning). She had come because she had heard that Angela was fiddling with flames and curses and wanted to see if she could cure her master, Fon. Tsuna had been surprised but pleased as he petted her head. Maybe there was a way out of the curse of the Arcobaleno with the research material he'd taken from Angela's lab.

"So... What's your real name?"

Tsuna started and stared at Elena.

She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly, "it's obvious that 'Nadeshiko' is not your real name, plus you're now flat as a board when you obviously had a bust this morning." She blinked, "it's hard to believe someone as cute as you is a boy though..."

He blushed and growled indignantly, "I am a boy!"

"A cute, idiotic boy who looks like a girl. Right, Dame-Tsuna?"

Oh god... the brunet could feel the anger rolling off that tone, he was in a shit load of trouble.

His head met the steering wheel in a loud bang as it was forcefully pushed down by tiny feet. He groaned.

"Oh, who's this?" Could Elena not see the pure evil that had just appeared? The children at the back were giggling.

"Ciaossu, I'm Reborn. Dame-Tsuna's teacher."

"Ah! The Greatest hitman Reborn?! Amazing! Why didn't you tell me you knew someone so famous, Tsuna?"

Tsuna just focused on driving through the throbbing of his head.

"Dame-Tsuna," he could see the black cloud rising from his teacher through the rear-view mirror and shuddered. "I come to check on how you're doing and I find half the school destroyed, my possible target dead and you running away with a kid, a teen, Fon's student and the heir of the De Luca famiglia and it's only been _one_ day. I thought this was a simple mission that you could easily complete with your girly looks." He could now feel Leon in gun form pushed against the back of his skull. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Tsuna whimpered, there was nothing he could say that would stop the sadistic baby from firing and they both knew it.

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**A/N **Sorry for the lack of R27. This is just a look into how Tsuna meets people, how he does his job and how he truly is a trouble magnet. *cackles evilly* It's all girls in this chapter!

Yes, Tsuna made a ton of mistakes as a spy but he's still in training. And I'm afraid nothing can fully whip out his clumsy side. He just has a lot of other skills to make up for it. 8)

No idea what Elena's last name is nor how real 3 year olds act. OTL

Nadeshiko- basically means the very personification of an idealised Japanese woman.

The gadget for getting the Hummer is completely fictional; you can't hot-wire nor break into modern cars as easily as you would an old one.

Schooling trivia: I've heard that American and Japanese schools are similar in that you have years 7-9 (about 12/13 - 15/16yr olds) and years 10-12 (15/16 - 17/18 year olds) separate but don't take me to heart about this (I don't even get the whole First years, sophomores and Seniors thing...). I only understand the Japanese schooling system to an extent but don't know much about the American. I think Italy has a similar structure but I'm not sure. Rosa Ladies College is entirely fictional and a private school so I just made it however I saw fit. (The uniform is modelled after my high school one.) If anyone does know anything about the schooling in different countries feel free to share!

Chapter 3 will be out tomorrow! There is good reason why this is not after chapter 3. 8)


	4. Chapter 3

Hitmen in Crisis. 3

**A/N **As promised, the next chapter! 8D

I had a difficult time writing this chapter and then I was suddenly struck head first by a rabid plot bunny! Gosh I need more of them, anyone got any good breeding grounds for plot bunnies?

**Warnings:** Violence, swearing, gore.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own KHR

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Namimori, Japan.

Tsuna sighed as he slumped onto the table, even with everything going on he was still dragged to school via threats from Kyoya. It looked like nothing, not even a potential assassin/kidnapper, was going to keep him out of school. Or maybe Kyoya wanted him to be there so that when the assassin came, he could bite it to death...

He had gone over to Shōichi's place after visiting Takeshi yesterday; Spanner was staying over there as well. And had been greeted by a teary eyed red head who tackled him in a hug blubbering something about him not being ripped to pieces. As he comforted the red head he turned to Spanner in question before the blond mechanic replied as he scratched his head, "I think 'S.K.Y-27' was built too realistically and Shōichi's imagination went wild."

S.K.Y-27 was the technical name of his robotic counterpart. He'd taken a look at the remains himself and he could relate to what Shōichi was feeling. The robot had been badly mangled; the right arm and leg torn off with wires and metal bits trailing out, the robot's head had also been ripped out and was nowhere to be seen, the torso was covered in large gashes and several holes through which you could see the ground. If you ignored the fact that there were metal bits trailing out, it looked like a dead body, _his_ body to be exact. Man, was he glad that his childhood dream hadn't come true.

He had confirmed his suspicions, Shōichi and Irie couldn't fix S.K.Y-27 as the head was missing, which was one of the main components. He'd looked over the damage and noted that the assassin wielded some sort of pole arm and a blade and had immense strength, the bits that were badly burnt could be from flame and there was no trace of any flame left in the robot, not even the lightning flame that was welded with the titanium.

In the end it meant he couldn't leave Namimori for an extended period of time without incurring suspicions so he was stuck and already had to contact clients to cancel missions. He had also gone through the list of people, famiglia and freelance assassins who wanted him dead and come up with too many options. So he headed home empty-handed after saying goodbye.

He had been greeted enthusiastically by his mother, asked for candy from Lambo (to which he gave his favourite Italian branded one), challenged to a play-fight by I-pin and got told rankings from Fuuta. Then he'd gone through his usual routine and went to bed. Only to be woken up by a demanding call from Kyoya.

Sighing in consternation, he grabbed the things he needed out of his bag and settled down to gaze out of the window. He could the sense the students streaming in steadily; nobody wanted to be late for fear of the skylark. One would think that after one of the skylarks left a year ago, there would be less fear. Kyoya had proven everyone wrong; without his cousin there to rein him in somewhat, he was free to let bloodlust take over and suddenly breaking a rule seemed so much more threatening than previously thought.

High school itself wasn't that bad, he was thankful that his nickname didn't pass on; only Reborn called him Dame-Tsuna now. He could understand the majority of the subjects, though he struggled in science and math eluded him completely. It didn't help that he missed so much school, though Reborn drilled any missed material into him. He shuddered, 'Its fine, Tsuna, there's no such thing as monsters that look like a cross between a crocodile and a piranha that can fly in the Amazon, I didn't see _anything_.'

If he estimated the time right, his brother would be at Namimori by lunchtime.

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Tokyo Airport, Japan.

Giotto decided to call Mum first to see how she was handling his twin's disappearance as soon as he got to Japan. He was sure she was worried sick. Plus, it had been a year since he saw her face to face.

*Ring~! Ring~!*

-Click-

"Hello? Sawada Nana speaking~!" Giotto blinked, his mother sounded cheerful, was she hiding it?

"Kaa-san? It's me."

"Ara~ Gio-kun! Mama's so happy you called! How is Italy? Are you enjoying school? Eating enough?" Giotto sweat dropped as his mother continued questioning him. His mother thought he'd gone to Italy to study, which was technically true, just not at school.

"Ahh, I'm fine Kaa-san. I was wondering about Tsuna."

"Tsu-kun? He's at school right now... Aww~ Mama's so happy her boys care for each other so much!" Giotto flushed. Then his brain registered what she just said.

"Eh!?"

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Outskirts of Namimori, Japan.

Reborn and G were firing their guns non-stop, Asari to the other side wielding his two blades with deadly accuracy. Knuckles was busy checking over the taxi driver who had been knocked out when the car was hit. Giotto himself was in the middle of the fray, trying to keep from burning the men too much as he knocked them out.

G grunted in frustration as he shot another man in the shoulder. Why did they have to be attacked now? He recognized the insignia as the Selvaggio famiglia. They were a rather large famiglia who worked mainly on research and development. He dodged a cudgel covered with a thin layer of flickering purple flames and sneered. Using the man's momentum to his advantage he stepped into the man's blind spot and delivered a hard hit to the temple with the butt of his gun.

There was a snarl from behind and he turned just in time to evade a pair of vicious jaws spouting thick saliva and shark teeth. Hunched in front of him was a Frankenstein dog, larger than any dog he'd seen with rippling muscles and patchwork skin, as if it were sewn together with all the wrong pieces. He felt utterly disgusted and pitied the creature in front of him.

'This is why I hate these fucking research based Famiglia.'

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Giotto was facing off with the boss of the Selvaggio.

"Don Selvaggio, what is the meaning of this? The Vongola will not forgive this!" Giotto hissed, annoyed. They needed to get to his brother and make sure he was safe and this happened! Giotto was ready to tear his hair in frustration.

The man he was fighting was a storm flame user and wielded a Schiavona , a rather old Italian style sword. Surprising for the boss of a research based famiglia but the blond was not going near that suspicious green substance under the flames. Giotto dodged to the right from a swing feeling the burn as the flames passed his cheek before moving into the opening and sending a fist at the hand, attempting to knock the weapon away. He scowled as his gloved hands met the metal on the handle only to jump away to avoid a fist to the face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Selvaggio sneered. "I can't accept that a brat like you; barely out of his mother's apron strings, is going to take over the leading Family in the underground world!"

Giotto gritted his teeth before launching into an attack combo, faking a right punch before kneeing the man in the chin, Selvaggio barely dodged it before Giotto disappeared and the buff man felt an agonising kick sending him flying forward. Selvaggio scraped the dirt as he stopped falling back, getting to his feet in an instant to launch a series of sword thrusts at the teen. Giotto dodged the attacks, wincing as he felt one scrape his arm and burn into his flesh. 'That's going to leave a mark.'

The man was fast despite his heavy build but Giotto was strong despite his more wiry form. They were neck and neck in strength and speed until Giotto launched into the air and flipped, sending an agonising kick to the man's head. Selvaggio spat out blood and staggered for a second, but it was enough.

Giotto was behind the man, jerking his arm and twisting the sword arm up harshly, the mafia Don let go and the sword cluttered on to the ground. All the fighting around the two stilled as they saw the position their leader was in. Giotto could also see that Asari and G were looking exhausted and there was what looked like an over-sized monster at their feet.

"Surrender, and you may all live." Stated Giotto coldly in his boss mode. It wasn't like he hadn't made his bones yet, at this point in time pretty much all his guardians and he had killed someone. Even if they didn't like it, it was for the sake of family and Family.

He was startled when he heard a manic rumble come from the man he had locked down. The rumble was quick to turn into full throated laughter.

"I don't think so, Vongola! I head from a little birdie that you have a brother, brat. And that he goes to school here!"

The blonde felt his blood turn to ice at these words.

"I have men after him right now, so if you don't want to see him die... I suggest you step down from the title."

"There's no one else to take over after Giotto and his brother." Reborn was standing on his shoulder, face impassive, eyes shadowed.

"That's fine! Let the Vongola fall!"

Giotto felt his grip tighten, the man tensed under him. "Were you the one who attacked my brother and his friend?" he asked quietly. His voice was soft but nobody could mistake the killing intent flowing off of him now, even with his bangs shadowing his face.

"A-ahahaha, so he's already been targeted?! That's why you were rushing here to Japan so fast! Oh, the irony!" The Selvaggio Don was trying and failing to hide his rising panic.

Giotto felt like killing the man even if he wasn't the original perpetrator, the man wanted to hurt Tsuna.

"Baka-Gio, you need to get to Tsuna."

Giotto took a deep breath and let it out, the killer intent dissipating a bit. Reborn could always talk sense into him even if the hitman didn't make sense himself sometimes. The blonde then chopped Selvaggio across the neck, effectively knocking him out.

Turning to the others he saw that his friends had already knocked everyone out and was in the process of binding the enemy.

"Can you guys take care of the rest here?" He got nods in return.

"Go find the kid and make sure he's ok." G said. Giotto still didn't get why G still called Tsuna 'kid' when they were all the same age, although it probably had something to do with his brother's shyness when they were young.

Giotto took off as fast as his flames would allow him, Reborn riding along on his shoulder. They exited the forest and he soon saw the big white building that looked similar to Nami-chuu. He could make out figures on the rooftop, too much black; which meant Mafiosi. As he got closer he realised that they were all down and couldn't help feeling relieved. His brother was awesome!

Then he saw that familiar spiky brown hair so much like his own and proceeded to attack. Tackling his adorable little twin he heard a startled squeak as they tumbled over each other to land in a mess of tangled limbs against the door that led down the roof. Giotto squeezing any part of his brother he could get his hands on.

"Oh my god, Tsuna! You're safe! I was soo worried! Especially when you disappeared and then the Selvaggio attacked and then you were attacked and then-!"

"Herbivore. _I'll bite you to death._"

Giotto turned fearfully to face the killing intent coming from behind him. Alaude's brother didn't seem to like him very much, not that the blond skylark was any better.

"O-oh. Hello, Hibari-san." He also wasn't allowed to call him by his first name, he really didn't get why his brother got to though. He shivered as the narrow icy blue eyes narrowed further.

"G-Gio-!" The blond turned to the choked gasp that was his name to find a blue faced Tsuna.

"Ahhhh! Tsuna! Oh no! Breathe! U-Um! I know! CPR!"

As Giotto got prepared to give his twin the kiss of life, a small black shoe slammed into his forehead and sent him slamming into the wall.

"Baka-Gio, Tsuna doesn't need CPR."

Tsuna was choking and gasping a bit, as he waved his hand reassuringly. "Will be fine in a bit." he choked out.

Giotto felt his intuition twinge, but ignored it and went to his brother to place his hands on his shoulders. Only to be kicked away once again.

"Reborn! What are you doing?!"

He stumbled up to find the infant hitman wasn't even looking at him but staring directly at Tsuna. His twin was staring back curiously. Hibari had already turned away, calling for his committee to come and clean up the bodies.

"Who are you?"

Giotto almost choked and Hibari had frozen. "What are you asking Reborn?! That's my twin, Tsuna! Or have you already forgotten from a year ago?"

"That's not Dame-Tsuna." Reborn had his gun out by now, pointed at the brunet's head.

"W-what are you on about, Reborn!" Giotto exclaimed horrified, he could feel his hyper intuition starting to act up but ignored it. It might have been a year but he knew his twin like the back of his hand. Tsuna had even had the same scent!

Then he looked at his twin and felt his heart plummet. Tsuna had his head lowered, bangs hiding his eyes; an amused smirk was the only thing to be seen.

"As expected of the number one hitman." The voice was the same but the tone so much darker and malicious.

"Who are you?" Was the cold reply.

An evil cackle was the only response. 'Tsuna' had lifted his head, revealing dark eyes filled with mirth. The laugh resounded ominously sending shivers of trepidation down Giotto's spine.

Then it stopped as 'Tsuna' leapt back onto the roof of the little block that formed the exit into the school. Hibari stood where he had been previously, glaring menacingly as his killer intent spiked exponentially.

'Tsuna' just chuckled.

Giotto could feel his heart racing as his intuition pounded inside his head. Something was wrong, oh so very wrong. Where was his adorable little twin? Who was this doppelgänger?

"Where's Tsuna?" Reborn still had Leon pointed at the brunet and was staring at him critically.

A giggle.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know~"

A loud gun shot was heard and a line of blood appeared on the brunet's face. His expression remained amused as he lifted a hand to touch the blood before licking it off his fingers.

"Where. Is. He?" Reborn's teeth were gritted and Giotto knew that if the hitman was getting frustrated then the shit had already hit the fan. The blond stood forward to stand beside his tutor, flames blazing once again. He could feel confusion and vexation starting to build as he glared at his twin's look-alike.

And he wasn't the only one; the roof was practically imploding with the combined killing intents of the skylark, the hitman and the Vongola Decimo.

"Why don't I just show you~?" The grin on 'Tsuna's' face was too wide, the eyes too narrowed to look anything like the brunet's usually very kind smiles. It made Giotto sick just looking at it.

KHRKHRKHRKHR

Fear.

That was one emotion Reborn hardly ever felt. That didn't mean he didn't feel it. Fear after all, is an emotion that can help keep you focused. Only a fool would never feel fear and fools did not survive long in the underground world of the mafia. So fear was a well acquainted, if passing, emotion to the hitman.

Yet the fear he was feeling now was different from the usual. He knew the limitations of his little hitman apprentice, he knew his capabilities and had been sometimes surprised by it. From time to time he would feel a fleeting version of this fear when his students, all of them, stepped too close to that edge that you could never come back from. But none of them compared to this, this fear gripped his heart in an icy vice that threatened to stop it beating.

He'd only felt something was wrong when they'd arrived at the roof. His student didn't needlessly kill. He killed the intended targets and no more than that. His student was still too kind hearted, still somewhat naïve and much too soft a soul; he didn't match the title of hitman at all, despite all his skills.

So when Reborn had seen that quite a number of the men were dead and knew it couldn't have been Hibari Kyoya because the teen didn't like such a thing as death staining the peace of Namimori. He knew it had to be his apprentice. Or rather, someone impersonating his apprentice.

So now he stood staring up at that sickening smile on the face of his apprentice, feeling that fear grip him as he wondered what had happened and what this fake going to show them. Of course, not a trace of this could be seen on his outer façade and, if anything, his grip on Leon was steadier than ever.

The fake reached behind himself and took something out.

And Reborn almost felt his mask slip and his heart stop.

When they were 'shown' what happened, Reborn almost fired several rounds straight for the fake's face. Giotto beside him put his hand to his mouth as tears cascaded down his face and started to retch, sinking shakily to his knees. Even Hibari's eyes widened in shock and disgust.

The fake was holding a head by the hair, very familiar chocolate locks stained by blood and matted with sweat. Where the head ended and the neck began were nothing but bloody ligaments and tendons trailing out, the white spine protruding out at the bottom. It was obvious the head had been ripped off.

Reborn refused to take in his apprentice's last expression; blank chocolate orbs too wide with fear, mouth open in a silent scream, and settled for glaring at the fake. If looks could kill the brunet would be nothing but an ash cloud.

Not that Reborn was going to need his looks. The hitman was not one for torture, but he would make sure this person got what he deserved. Before the Hitman could fire, however, there was an almighty and anguished roar from beside him and an orange blur appeared in front of the fake. But before Giotto could hit, the fake had disappeared and reappeared on the railing that surrounded the roof.

"Looks like I've overstayed my welcome~!" Smirking, his hand lit up in intense bright orange flame which covered the head immediately, revealing muscle as skin flaked away from the heat, then bone in a horrid effigy of a burning skull and finally nothing but ash, all in an instant.

The wretched fake with Tsuna's usual smile on his face gave a mocking wave with his hand he disappeared in a haze of flames. "Toodle-loo~"

Neither Giotto nor Hibari were fast enough to get the fake before he disappeared. The hitman didn't bother because more likely than not the fake was an illusion, a very strong illusion but an illusion all the same.

Giotto had sunk to his knees and was sobbing, fingers brushing what little ash had fallen to the roof, "Tsuna, Tsuna, Tsuna, oh god...!"

Hibari had clenched his tonfa hard enough to dent them and slammed them into the ground as he released a low growl, "Omnivore..."

Reborn gritted his teeth as he felt anguish and frustration rise within him, watching the two remaining teens. He felt no need to try to correct Giotto's behaviour; it was eerily similar to how he wanted to cry out on the inside.

The hitman pulled his fedora down; the trembling in his hands was barely notable; only Leon could feel it and licked the hitman's cheek sadly.

His student, his apprentice, his chosen was gone.

KHRKHRKHRKHR

**A/N **Schiavona is classified as a basket-hilted broad sword. Which means its got this metal net-like protection over the handle that its held by. If you want to know more google it.

R&R!


	5. Chapter 4

Hitmen in Crisis: Chapter 4

**Warnings:** Angst, blood, gore, dark themes, OOCness, violence, swearing, the usual.

**A/N:** My apologies for the long wait and this chapter is so much shorter than what I had planned. TAT

And I thank everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed! You're all inspirational! :D  
Sorry for not replying (University is a pain, and I'm going on hiatus for a while.) I hope this chapter answers some questions!

* * *

The images blur together in his mind as he shakily stood in the field of blood and bone. By this point he wasn't sure what was real and what was fake; it had jumbled together in a never-ending carousel of pain, anguish and death.

His hands shook as he gazed blankly at blood encrusted gloves that felt almost natural on his skin numbly noting the little bits of flesh that clung to the metal before turning his head up to examine with darkened brown eyes the body that lay in front of him.

A man in a vaguely familiar crisp black suit -not so crisp anymore due to the gaping hole in the centre- lay still before him. He had a handsome face accentuated by curly black sideburns, his shock of raven hair soaked in the pool of spreading red and familiar obsidian eyes stared blankly up at nothing, the previous rage and hate gone along with the life.

Tsuna's mind barely recalled an old photo he had seen; too busy denying who he had just killed. Out of all the cycles he had to live through -his own death, the death of his mentor, his friends, all caused by some freak bullet/weapon/assassin- this was by far the worst because in the other cycles he wasn't the one to kill so mercilessly -he is actually, but it was never a loved one that was the victim- and he was getting sick of the images, the sensations that crept upon his mind and clawed at what little sanity is left leaving behind nothing but the feeling of déjà vu as the cycle begins once again.

But this time is different because someone he _knows_ is important is dead but he hasn't blacked out yet, hasn't incurred the trigger for the beginning of another horrid cycle of twisted memories and he wishes dearly that he could because what happened this round was somehow much more worse than the previous ones.

He could vaguely recall how he got trapped in this ongoing cycle; a strange man with chequered gloves and tie donning a suit approached him while he was in the boy's restroom and a sudden warping of said room before he could strike the man down. Then the memories became fuzzy but the next thing he knew; he'd ended up in this loop.

He'd already tried dispelling this overly realistic illusion -because this _had_ to be an illusion, he'd never even seen Reborn's adult form before- with his flames to no avail. He'd clawed into the edges of his mind scrambling for where this wretched illusion was latched but had found nothing. The continuity of the blood stained broken record had seeped into his mind, his very thought processes, and scrambled his memories into a concoction of chaos.

Perhaps if it hadn't been his memories, reality and counterfeit would not have mixed to confuse his perception in such a way.

There is a squelch as he steps toward the man, bending down to peer at a face he'd never seen in real life and lifting a shaky finger to trace the defined cheekbone, jerking away horrified as a red trail was left on the unblemished skin.

His eyes caught the gaping hole in the centre, so much like the first time he had killed; right down to the burnt and blackened flesh at the edges. His stomach heaved at the sickening image and he doubled-over, dry heaving.

The sound of applause broke through his erratic breathing and swirling thoughts.

Tsuna turned his tear stained face up -when did he start crying?- to see a man in a trench coat seated in a throne-like chair, an iron rimmed hat and a silver mask obscuring half his face. Chequered gloves clapped sarcastically and a sardonic smirk was the only expression he could discern.

Behind the chair stood another man, one that Tsuna recognised as the cause of his current dilemma and before he could even think, rage had consumed and solidified into flame and he was on top of the man, flaming hands digging into the neck. The man's consistent upturn lips seemed to mock him even as the pitch black eyes scrunched up from the pain.

"Why? Why would you show me all of that?!" Tsuna yelled into the other's face before a force flung him off and sent him careening away. Wincing at the scrapes he was sure to get from the impact he pushed himself to his knees, flames growing ever brighter.

He noted that the entire scene had changed; he was no longer in a posh mansion, a dead body at his feet, but in a small space that was shrouded in black, the only clearly visible landscape the checkerboard floor beneath him and the marble chair atop a dais.

He looked up to see the silver masked man standing before him, a cane topped with a large jewel pointed at his nose.

"Now, now, guests shouldn't be rude and ignore the one who wanted to see them." The man's voice was low and husky and the brunet suppressed the shudder of fear easily due to the rage that seemed to consume him, his eyes fixated on the other man who was still lying on the ground.

"You turned out to be quite troublesome you know? Even managed to fool me with that little robot clone of yours."

Tsuna's eyes widened at this revelation before flinching back as the man swung the short staff, he felt a trickle on his cheek and he looked back to find a blade jutting out from the end of the cane.

"Ohohoho~ I don't think he likes me very much~" The brunet turned to see other man chuckle, rubbing his throat as he sat up, he was peering at his forearm where Tsuna could make out black scribbles. "I was just following orders too, let's see... Aha! 'Bring the brunet Sawada twin here.'" Those black eyes squinted at Tsuna. "Yup, he's here alright."

"You took your time with it… what were you up to, Wonomichi?" Drawled the man in the mask, pulling the cane back to his side.

"Heeheehee, just a little something so he won't be such a bother next time Boss." Wonomichi gave a mock salute.

"Who are you?" Tsuna had finally managed to obtain some sort of control over his whirlwind of thoughts and emotions; anger and frustration being at the forefront, his intuition was warning him that the two men were dangerous and this was not the time to be consumed by an inner rage at his circumstances.

Reborn would _not_ be happy to hear that Tsuna had lost it. (It didn't even matter that he wasn't here, the hitman knew everything.) And the brunet forced himself to take even breaths, like Fon had taught him and push aside the hell he had just gone through, steeling his mind as his flames grew clearer in response.

The masked man grinned and Tsuna got the impression he was examining his flames, "How rude of me, I go by Checkerface." The brunet stared at him blankly; he doubted that was a real name. The man just rubbed his chin, "although others like to call me The Man with the Iron Hat... How original."

Tsuna twitched, getting to his feet in an instant as he backed away in a loose defensive position. Taking an inventory of what he could fight with; the only weapons he had on him were the small blades he normally carried on his person and his gloves.

"I take it you've heard of me then." The man's lips stretched into a smirk.

"Turn them back." Of course Tsuna had heard of him, following Reborn and going on missions that sometimes involved world protection, no matter how absurd that sounded, meant delving into the knowledge of the Tri-ni-Sette and learning a bit about how the Arcobaleno came to be.

"Tut, tut." The Man with the Iron Hat waved his finger as if he were reprimanding a naughty child. "You shouldn't make rude demands like that, if the Sun has been teaching you like he shouldn't be, I'm sure he'd be disappointed by how rude you are, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna stiffened at the mention of Reborn and the man smirked in response.

"Don't worry, I don't involve myself in such trivial matters but you should be more concerned for yourself rather than others."

Wonomichi approached them, handing the man something with a gleeful grin before retreating.

Tsuna watched in morbid fascination as the man revealed a clear pacifier with an orange tint and shook his head slowly in denial.

"I think you've proven yourself to be quite perfect for the role."

Tsuna gritted his teeth, trying to think of ways to avoid this. The man was strong, justified by the implication he had taken S.K.Y-27 down, and Wonomichi had already proven himself to be a formidable illusionist, Tsuna himself was exhausted and running on his energy reserves and there didn't seem to be anything useful in this place -the chair didn't appear lift-able and everywhere else was in perpetual shadow.

Biting his lip the brunet glanced to the side, perhaps he could chance escaping through the shadows? But his intuition seemed to be warning him off that plan.

"I wouldn't try running if I were you; this place doesn't exist in reality." The brunet snapped his head around to discover Checkerface standing right beside him. "There is no way you can escape from here."

Tsuna blasted himself away, watching the man jump back from his flames and landed on the marble chair, crouching on top so that he could keep an eye on both men, it wasn't like he could make himself a bigger target -there was nothing to hide himself with.

His orange eyes blazed into unseen masked ones.

"I'm not going to let you put that on me, not without a fight." Despite the odds against him, Tsuna wasn't going to just roll over and yield to the dangerous man's whims, "and turn the Arcobaleno back!"

A dark chuckle echoed among the shadows.

"How rude... lets see how long you'll last."

* * *

Sawada Household, Namimori Japan.

Reborn jerked upright at the sound of his apprentice's scream, only to squint at the bright sunlight filtering through the curtains, the recesses of the dream -nightmare-dream expelled with the light.

He blinked blearily, peering at Giotto huddled in the opposite bed and wondering when he'd fallen out of his hammock and into his deceased student's bed.

No, Reborn refused to believe that the brunet was gone and no doubt the blond twin thought the same, if telling Maman and the others that Tsuna had gone missing was any indication (the fact that there was no body notwithstanding). It was possible the incident from last week was an illusion, he wasn't going to rule that out even if Mukuro and Mammon couldn't find any traces of flame. In fact that made it even more suspicious considering that the fake Tsuna had used flames to disappear.

But then came the issue that it had been a week and even if the brunet was alive he was completely MIA. Even with the extensive information network of the skylarks and Reborn's own informants neither hide nor hair could be found of the brunet and the culprit.

Letting out a frustrated groan, he lifted his arm to rub his eyes only to stop short, dark eyes widening in shock.

A _very_ familiar hand from long ago had appeared in his vision, long fingers and calluses from hard work with guns and various artillery clearly visible. He flexed his hand, watching fascinated as the fingers curled in response. Then he jerked upright from the bed and speed-walked into the adjacent bathroom, coming face to face with the shocked expression of his adult self.

'What. The. Hell.'

* * *

Vongole Hotel, Namimori Japan.

A very familiar illusionist was sleeping soundly in her bed when the door burst open.

"Ushishishishi~ You should be honoured that the prince came to wake the peasant."

"VOOOIII! We've got a mission! Get up!"

The two were quick to zip to the side as two broadswords came flying toward them, only to land into the jaws of dark giant worm-like creatures with several layers of needle-like teeth.

"VOI! What the fuck?!"

"Ushishishi~ these disgusting things don't deserve to touch the prince."

Viper, or Mammon as she likes to refer to herself, decided to open her eyes since she obviously could not get anymore sleep through the cacophony. She sat up blinking blearily, not that it could be seen under her night hood, and yawned. The illusionist was quite exhausted after the week of futile searching for clues on what happened to the Vongola Decimo's brother.

Though she did find it interesting that Reborn appeared quite frustrated with the whole situation; she didn't know he was that close to the other twin. Of course it might have been because an unknown enemy had shown themselves and nobody knew who it was and what their goals were.

Finally clearing her eyes she was surprised to find the two men battling her uroboros illusions and Fantasma croaking at her. When had she activated her more malicious illusions? Despite how annoying her 'comrades' could be the Arcobaleno didn't want to kill them, who else would pay her so well?

"VOI! Stop these things!" Squalo had managed to cut one of the snake-bodies in half only for another to appear, he glared back at the illusionist and stopped short, eyes widening.

"When did the fuck did you turn into an adult!"

Mammon just blinked.

'What?'

* * *

Commercial Flight. 10,000m above China.

Two ex-COMSUBIN agents slept peacefully on the plane to Japan. A loud snore from the buff blond man across from them jerked the two awake and a rifle and shotgun were instantly pointed at the source of the noise.

There was a moment of silence before the blue haired female sorted in exasperation. The younger male with ruffled blond hair just sighed.

They glanced at each other and their eyes widened.

Iemitsu woke to the sound of surprised gasps and two guns pointed in his face.

* * *

Huǒlóng Triad Headquarters, Shanghai China.

A martial artist rose with the rising sun, pleased that the pollution was less dense today. He stretched only to tumble out of the cot that seemed so much smaller all of a sudden with Lichi screeching at him.

The door smashed open.

"Fon, what's up?! An enemy attack?!"

Huǒlóng Liu* stared blankly at the half naked man on the floor of the room belonging to his most trusted agent.

"...Fon?"

The martial artist just gave an awkward smile in reply.

"Why are you naked?"

"_That's_ what you ask in this situation?"

* * *

Underground Laboratory, Italy.

A green haired Scientist was dozed in his armchair, the screens in front of him flickering in an almost a comforting way. The pacifier around his neck sparked for a moment and he jolted awake, banging his head on the roof of his little hideout.

Groaning he mumbled, "Minor hematoma of tissue, harmless for one such as myself..." He then peered down at Keiman crawling at his feet and noted with surprise the distance the floor appeared.

After checking himself over he grabbed the nearest notepad and pen, mumbling under his breath as he scribbled furiously. "...It seems the curse of the Arcobaleno has a fault of some sort...on this date... The sudden growth is inhibiting my movement in the lab, must obtain a new lab ASAP... From my own studies it is known that the curse comes about due to the potent effects of the pacifiers and The Man with the Iron Hat's involvement..." He glanced down at his green pacifier. "My pacifier seems to be in its natural state but further experimentation is needed..." he paused.

'Should I call the other Arcobaleno?'

* * *

Vorarlberg Stadium, Röthis Austria.

Several loud thumps and a screech could be heard from the Immortal Skull's dressing room and the performers, crew and organizer stared at the door for a moment before turning away; unperturbed by the Greatest Stuntman's quirky attitude as they were used to it.

Inside, a man clad in purple leather was cuddling his giant octopus and panicking.

"W-why am I an adult again Oodako?! Did I do something wrong?! Is the curse rejecting me? I don't get it!"

He then jumped three feet into the air as his body started vibrating. "Arghh! My body's gone weird!"

Oodako watched impassively as his master started doing a strange jerky dance and reached out a tentacle to retrieve the phone from his master's back pocket.

Skull stopped moving and stared at the phone. That's right, he couldn't have the thing ringing mid-stunt so he'd put it on vibrate. "O-oh, thanks Oodako!" He took the phone and pressed answer before the call ended.

"This is the Great Skull-!"

**"Lackey."**

Skull 'eep'ed, he didn't recall knowing anyone with such a deep dangerous voice. 'Wait, Lackey?'

"R-Reborn?!"

"We're having a meeting. The usual place."

* * *

**A/N Notes!** That first part is confusing basically this is what happened: He was taken by Wonomichi and subjected to a 'mental torture' of sorts through memories that had been twisted to include the death of people (who he'd really saved in reality) and he experienced different versions over and over again, I started with the last one where he had just killed an adult version of Reborn (which was a warped version of his first kill).  
This is just in case I haven't managed to portray this well (that had also been the part I had to keep rewriting so I hope I didn't miss any important bits).  
I also get the feeling nothing was answered and there are even more questions... ah well, chapter 5 will be more informative.

As for everything else; 'there's a reason for everything.' (If not, then it's because I'm an incompetent writer.) ;D And no, I didn't confuse Wonomichi and Checkerface's abilities, it's just my own twist on the characters.

*Backwards structure just like Japanese names.

Next chapter: either an Extra: Meeting 8027 or the actual Chapter 5.

Also, Vote in my Poll! (This story is R27 and I'll need your opinions.) 8D

R&R!


	6. Chapter 5

Hitmen in Crisis 5.

**Warnings: **The usual.

First half was Beta'ed by my best friend.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the Reviews, favourites and follows! Wouldn't know what to do without you guys. 3

*flails about happily* I got this one out fast, it's short too... But I hope you enjoy, ne?

* * *

Milan Italy.

Reborn stalked up the stairs of the rather posh seven storey apartment, his shoes sinking into the plush carpet. He took in the familiar building, sharp eyes picking out the layer of dust left behind after years of neglect. The various furniture scattered here and there covered in white sheets.

The apartment had been refurbished more than a decade ago, walls and floors split apart to open the storeys up and conjoin the previously separate blocks into something similar to a rather tall mansion. Small decorations had been added to give a homey effect. The entire thing was what the Arcobaleno had once called home; a place they could go back to despite their odd natures.

That had changed after the curse had come into effect. Despite their standings in the underground world the new forms were unrecognisable to most and eight babies living alone together would have garnered unwanted questions. They had left in various states of denial and bitterness to rebuild their statuses from scratch.

Finally reaching the top floor Reborn headed for the mahogany door at the end of the hall, passing the one with 'Reborn'* printed on a yellow sign without sparing it a glance. He opened the door soundlessly and was greeted with the sight of five others seated around a round table, illuminated with the various colours from the glowing pacifiers.

"Chaos,." he greeted as he walked in, examining the forms of his companions; all of which he hadn't seen in fourteen years.

"You're late, Reborn."

"Yeah! You're usually the one that's on time, kora!"

"Ahahaha! The Great Skull has arrived before Re- Ow!"

"For your information I was held up keeping Giotto occupied; it's been annoying enough making sure he doesn't go running out of the house to track down Tsuna this past week." A dangerous gleam entered Reborn's eye and Skull shivered from where he had fell off his chair. "If he doesn't finish the work I set him by the time I get back..." Reborn smirked as he sat in his seat and the others decided not to ask.

"What's wrong with Tsuna?" Fon placed his tea down with a soft clink, expression concerned. "Did something happen?" His eyes flickered to Colonnello and Lal who had looked away.

"I'm assuming this 'Tsuna' is Tsunayoshi Sawada, the Vongola Decimo's twin brother." Verde pushed his glasses up, glancing toward Reborn for a moment before looking back to his papers that were scattered at his end of the table.

Reborn grunted an affirmation before turning to Fon, "I'll tell you later." Fon wasn't deterred and frowned at the tone Reborn used, even more worried now but nodded reluctantly nonetheless.

"Viper couldn't make it. She's on some mission with the Varia, kora, so it's just us."

"We've got to work out why we changed back," stated Lal, eyebrows furrowing as she crossed her arms.

"It's weird! But Oodako seemed fine with it," Skull piped up from where he'd climbed back into his chair, his pet wrapped around it like some over sized ornament.

Verde looked up from his work pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I have yet to work out the issue. Our pacifiers all seem to be in their natural states, the wavelengths I have recorded from my own are all stable. However..." The others leaned forward to hear more. "I was able to capture the residue of a peak in the wavelengths at around six a.m. eastern standard time."

"And what does that mean?"

"As the only abnormality, I can only conclude that this was the time that I had undergone the transformation; it lasted for exactly 0.01 seconds."

"So you still don't know why we changed," Reborn muttered, tilting his fedora up to peer at the green haired scientist.

Verde huffed but nodded slowly. "Curses are not my area of expertise; Viper is more suited to this than I am."

"So you can admit science isn't the basis of everything." Reborn grinned, showing teeth. He loved riling people up, and after the week he'd gone through he needed a stress reliever.

"I did not state that. The curses _are_ science; it just requires more research, and since none of you will allow me to experiment on you I'm limited in how much information I can obtain," Verde scowled at the hitman.

Reborn smirked and was about to reply when a loud bang interrupted him. He looked to see Lal's hands placed firm against the table, a visible tic in her brow. "Enough!" she said. "We have more important matters to discuss than fighting amongst ourselves; any word from The Man with the Iron Hat?"

Everyone shook their heads and a silence fell over them as each contemplated what do to next.

"M-maybe the curse just went away? It's been a long time and..." Skull cowered at the intense looks he received.

"That's actually plausible," Fon said as he smiled gently at the stunt man.

Just as Skull regained his ego and was about to shout something absurd, several heads jerked up as they sensed something, staring as the air near the ceiling ripped open and black tendrils seeped out followed by a bright orange flash.

The Arcobaleno leapt away from the large oak table just as the entire thing splintered, shielding their faces from the flying wood. The sounds of snapping and a pain-filled groan cluttered their ears. What truly caught their attention, however, was the familiar sinister chuckle that followed the cacophony and by the time the dust had settled, various weapons were pointed at the man with a silver mask standing in the centre on the room.

They could make out the smirk the man adorned as he peered into the large hole at his feet, the remains of the table surrounding him. "I warned you not to run into the shadows. You're lucky I took the liberty to come after you, although I wouldn't want you to be permanently damaged either."

Reborn shared a grave look with Colonnello; besides the time they were turned into the Strongest Infants, The Man with the Iron Hat had never shown himself to them before, but without Viper they couldn't tell if this was his real form or an illusion. Either way he was distracted, and the Arcobaleno took their chance.

Fon launched at the man, hands in loose fists and two fingers curled out as he thrust his arm out. The man dodged to the side and before Fon could pull back, he grabbed his arm with inhuman speed and flung the martial artist at the wall. Reborn, Colonnello and Lal took this chance to open fire and Verde flung a vial.

The Man with the Iron Hat dodged them all effortlessly, barely moving from his position as the bullets whizzed by, and knocked the vial away with his jewelled cane, the contents breaking against the wall and instantly melting through.

Before Skull could rev up his motor bike and try to run the man over, pain seemed to shoot through all the Arcobaleno's bodies, rendering them paralysed. Their pacifiers glowed brightly as they all collapsed to the floor. Reborn gritted his teeth, trying to force his limbs to move and managing no further than tightening his grip on Leon.

The Man in the Iron Hat grinned mockingly at the Arcobaleno. "You should all know better than trying to go against me."

Now that Reborn could do nothing more than glare at the man he noticed the burnt edges of the man's trench coat and the slight bruising that was almost hidden by the scars on the man's face. His eyes narrowed. 'Was he fighting someone?' The hitman then recalled the orange blur they'd managed to glimpse before table had blown up.

"It seems we're still missing the Mist, but no matter; I'm sure you can all relay this news to her..." The masked man chuckled.

"What news?" Verde growled from his slumped position against the wall. Dark green orbs flashing at the man.

"You've got a new Sky!"

The Arcobaleno's eyes widened at this revelation.

"I-is that why our forms have changed back?!" stuttered Skull from his slumped over position against his bike.

"Oh, that? Don't worry, that's just temporary. You could say it's a reward of sorts for your new Sky's determination. I didn't expect for him to last this long-"

The masked man was interrupted as a blaze of orange flame erupted from beneath his feet. He leapt away before the floor collapsed completely, watching as the bright flames turned to stone.

Reborn blinked at the stone flames as Lal just managed to roll away from the incoming attack with the help of her centipede. 'That ability...' His eyes widened. 'It can't be! But who else could use that ability?' And he was proven correct as a small lion cub leapt through the hole in the centre of the room, growling at the man.

"A lion cub, kora?!" Colonnello managed to shout out from his prone position. "That's our new sky Arcobaleno?!" Falco had taken his rifle and was holding the strap as he flew above the rain Arcobaleno.

"Don't be silly; although that _could_ be interesting..." The masked man rubbed his chin nonchalantly as he leapt around, avoiding the incoming flames from the roaring lion cub with ease.

Reborn's stomach plummeted as he guessed what the man meant. 'If Natsu is here then it really must mean...' He wasn't sure if he should feel relieved that the chances of his apprentice being dead had just been reduced to nil or dread, to see what the man had done to the brunet.

The man had just leapt away from another blaze of flame which turned to stone as Natsu roared when another huge pillar of flame exploded from the ground. The man swung his cane like a sword, the blade at the end jutting out automatically, and into the wall, changing his movement mid-air. So that his trench coat was only slightly singed rather than getting the full brunt of the attack.

"Impressive," he drawled, smirking into the large crater. At this point the only flooring left in the room belonged to the outer edges where all the Arcobaleno were situated.

Reborn used Leon to drag himself to the edge to peer in, and his eyes widened at the sight. There, among the debris and stone remains of flames, stood Tsuna. The residual image of the brunet -a head with the frozen expression of horror being burnt to ash- was replaced with the very much live brunet and he couldn't help the relieved sigh that escaped his lips.

"Tsuna?" Fon had been precariously close to the last attack, but he could now see the brunet clearly, his expression surprised. The surprise quickly melted into worry. "He's badly injured."

Reborn grunted, more glad that the brunet was _alive_ and he didn't have to rely on speculation and guesses anymore. But indeed the brunet was injured, his previously white uniform dyed red on the left side, his left arm hung limp and flameless, scrapes, bruises and scratches seemed to cover the brunet from head to toe and he had trouble standing up straight. The hitman could not make out anything else as Tsuna's back was to him.

Tsuna was exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to sink into the blackness that threatened to engulf him and sleep until eternity. But that was something he couldn't do, would never do, he needed to defeat The Man in the Iron Hat in front of him, he could not let the man disappear to never be found again, not without curing the Arcobaleno.

That was the only thought that kept his flames up and his body from dropping at the hands of fatigue and blood loss. He wasn't sure how long he'd been fighting and he didn't care. His mind barely registered the fact that he was no longer in that strange dimension but in a room where sunlight filtered in through the gaping hole he'd just made with a toned down version of the X-Burner (as his left arm was out of commission). His gaze was solely focused on the man whose cocky grin had been taunting him for too long.

With a roar he launched at the man, somewhat jerky with only one arm but still steady enough to head in the right direction -he'd had plenty of time mastering flight with one arm in this fight- and jerked to the right just as the bladed cane thrust toward him. He'd learned to somewhat read the masked man's unpredictable movements by now and his own erratic manoeuvres proved to be advantageous. Twisting by the cane he grabbed it and froze his sky flames around the thing, hoping to freeze the man's hand along with it.

No such luck; he grimaced as the ice cracked upon coming into contact with the chequered gloves before dodging the arm blow at his left. Ducking under it he swept his leg out to trip the man. The Man with the Iron Hat somersaulted over him, Tsuna turned but wasn't fast enough -he was never fast enough- to avoid the hand that abruptly clutched his neck.

He clawed at the hand, trying to even his breathing even as his heart thundered and blood rushed to his ears in a loud roar. He saw Natsu jump up behind the man and tried to cry out as the lion cub was knocked viciously away and through a wall.

"I think that's enough playing around." The man's voice was the only thing that penetrated the roaring in his ears and he turned orange glazed eyes on the glint of mocking blue he could just make out through the mask. That's right; the man had always been playing around, right from the start. He was stronger, faster and more experienced than the brunet and the brunet knew that, but had thought that determination alone could overcome the difference in power.

Tsuna startled a bit as he realised he'd missed the next words the man had spoken, had somehow fallen into a daze as exhaustion tugged at his mind. He couldn't seem to bring himself into full awareness as he absently registered an orange glow and cries of horror before something cold replaced that grip on his throat and a burning sensation spread out from that point to engulf his body.

"You should be happy I granted your wish, although it will be temporary. And now I'm taking the payment for sustaining the original forms, even yours."

Tsuna didn't understand at all what the man was talking about; he had lost to the man hadn't he? His blackening vision caught a glimpse of several people sprawled on the broken flooring, his mind whispering that these people were familiar and he should be happy to see them before the blackness engulfed his vision altogether.

The Arcobaleno could do nothing but watch, horrified, as a clear pacifier was placed against the limp brunet's throat and burst into bright orange flame, pure and clear like the sky during dusk. A smaller orb of white-orange separated itself and went into the man's palm.

Reborn had no idea what the man was talking about, although he could guess. He just hoped whatever 'price' the man was talking about would not be detrimental to Tsuna. He struggled to move as the man dropped Tsuna and turned toward the rest of the Arcobaleno. Reborn inwardly cursed the power that bound his limbs and left him immobile.

The Man with the Iron Hat grinned at them all, "now treat your new sky nicely; I'd hate to have to track down another with as much power as this one." And with a mocking wave, he disappeared into another rip in the air.

The Arcobaleno found they could move as soon as the man disappeared, and Reborn wasted no time rushing toward Tsuna whose pacifier was still glowing brightly. He ripped the shirt away, grimacing at the array of discolorations and lacerations that littered the skin and the large wound on the left shoulder where blood had already started to clot. Pressing his fingers against the brunet's neck he felt something inside of him loosen as the steady thrum met his fingers, gazing into the tired but very much alive and warm expression the brunet adorned, even unconscious.

Fon came up beside him, reaching out to Tsuna to press gentle fingers against the side of the chest where a nasty blue-black bruise sat and watched the brunet's face scrunch up in sudden pain. "Broken ribs?" Reborn nodded, the only consolation was that the brunet had not coughed up blood, which meant the lungs hadn't been pierced.

"So this is Sawada Tsunayoshi..." Verde had also stumbled up toward them. He reached out but his hand was knocked away by Reborn who was glaring at him warily. He frowned back, pushing his glasses up. "Fine, if you don't need my assistance..."

Lal had walked out unsteadily to retrieve the lion cub from the next room and Skull was trying to get across the large hole in the room. Colonnello was tugging at his hair:

"Dammit! Iemitsu's gonna throw a fit when he hears of this, kora!"

Reborn sighed; Iemitsu wasn't the only one. Really, everything had just gotten even more complicated. "Let's just get him treated first."

As the Arcobaleno went about moving the teen and clearing some of the debris away none of them noticed the flicker of black flame in the corner of the ceiling.

* * *

Vendicare, undisclosed location.

"Master Bermuda."

The cloaked man with bandages obscuring his face twitched in his seat, the night flame before him flickered for a moment before puttering out. He started to chuckle darkly, the sound easily reverberating off the stone walls to create an eerie effect.

"Did something good happen?" Another cloaked man with straggly black hair cascading past his shoulders stood at attention in the doorway, watching his boss.

"Yes, it seems Checkerface appeared. He actually appeared!"

The cloaked man shuffled, the soft clinking of chains following his movement. "Should we attack?"

"No, he has disappeared again." An exasperated, yet amused, huff followed this statement. "There is not much point when he's not distracted with all the pacifiers, attacking hastily would be detrimental to our plans."

A soft snicker echoed around the gloomy room and the standing cloaked man waited for his boss to continue.

"It seems he's quite interested in the new sky Arcobaleno... Perhaps this could be used to our advantage."

* * *

*I'm aware 'Reborn' was not his real name in the past but I'm not making another one, I can't see myself referring to him as anything else.

**A/N:** Ahaha, I should stop writing and actually get to studying, so this is the last one for awhile. The plot's getting thicker but the story's slowing down now. You'll see what price he had to pay to let Reborn and the others stay in their adult forms next chapter.  
As for why I chose an apartment rather than a mansion, I was trying to follow cannon and in the flashbacks the Arcobaleno met in an apartment so...

Reviews are very much appreciated! :D And feel free to ask questions!

Oh yes, and an early Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it!

P.S. My poll is still open and will stay open for awhile.


	7. Chapter 6

Hitmen in Crisis 6

**Warnings:** Violence, cursing, some angst, as usual.

**Pairings:** Some Arcobaleno27. Main: R27

**Disclaimer: **I don't own KHR

**A/N:** I suck at studying don't I? My fingers just flew away with me this time 'round. I was actually planning for some (a lot) other stuff to happen but it didn't fit.

Thanks to all who reviewed, faved and followed! :D And to all the guests/anon reviews, thank you! Sadly I can't reply to you but I cherish your opinions and encouragement all the same.

* * *

Arcobaleno Casa. Milan, Italy

Reborn and Fon walked down the stairs and into the dining room on the sixth floor, carrying a small basin with pink water and a bloodied hand towel with them. Skull, Verde, Colonnello and Lal were seated at the table and waiting for them.

"How is he?"

"Two broken ribs, a hole in his left shoulder and a broken arm; that was the worst of it." Reborn brusquely replied as he took a seat. Fon had dropped the soiled items on the island in the adjoining kitchen before heading to his seat.

They'd decided to uncover all the furniture as it seemed they would be staying for awhile. The broken roof and meeting room were being fixed by Verde's robots as they spoke. Tsuna had been moved to Reborn's old room; which happened to be the closest to the now unusable meeting room.

"What should we tell Iemitsu, Giotto and the rest of the Vongola? Everyone thinks he's dead or missing." Lal stated as she crossed her arms.

"Don't ask me," grumbled Verde, he was still miffed at being excluded from treating the teen. "I don't care for the Vongola." And he returned to scribbling at the papers in front of him; the appearance of Checkerface and Tsuna had given him more food for thought concerning the curse and the pacifiers.

Reborn had not wanted anyone touching Tsuna besides Fon and even then he'd been reluctant. To say that the others were surprised to see him so overprotective over the unconscious brunet might be an understatement. Reborn himself didn't care what they thought and just wanted to see the brunet awake so that he could assess any mental damage Tsuna may have suffered.

"It's best to keep the fact that he's the Sky Arcobaleno amongst ourselves for now, there are plenty of enemies out there that won't hesitate to attack if they found out." Reborn shot a glare toward Colonnello as the blond opened his mouth his mouth to speak. "We'll still tell them we found him; just say it in a way that doesn't make them rush here on the first available aircraft."

Lal frowned a little but nodded in agreement with Fon and Colonnello. Skull wasn't really interested in this topic.

"He wasn't supposed to have any involvement with the mafia, right? I wonder why he could use flames, kora. Not to mention have a sky lion." Colonnello gestured at Natsu who was curled up in Lal's lap, asleep. He then turned to Fon, "you trained him before right? Did you teach him flames too?" the blond was staring at the Chinese man somewhat accusingly.

Fon just took another sip of his tea. "No, I did not. I only taught Tsuna in the area of martial arts." He then directed a pointed look toward Reborn to which the hitman ignored in favour if sipping his espresso; no, it did not matter that it was almost midnight, coffee is for all hours.

"I recall the kid being nothing but a wimpy brat in my memories from that future incident. Though there was that one time he saved the Vongola Decimo from some of the Millefiore, I don't remember him using any flames though." Lal added as she absent-mindedly stroked Natsu.

"Then how'd he get so good?" Skull wondered from his seat. He'd only briefly met Tsuna from when he'd interacted with Reborn and Giotto but the brunet had never really left an impression on him; they had never even talked to each other before.

Fon sent another look to the hitman, this time with a little killing intent as he tried to urge Reborn to speak. Fon's eyes flashed with the silent message: Tell them or I will.

Reborn huffed, he hated being urged to do things against his will but the martial artist was right, despite how reluctant Reborn was on the subject; it was best to inform the others lest another incident arise, especially now that Tsuna held an important role amongst them.

"I taught him."

They others turned to him stunned, even Verde had dropped his pen in favour of gaping at the hitman.

Reborn lowered his fedora, smirking. It wasn't often he got to see the others' surprised expressions before.

"You- you what?!"

"I thought you had orders from the Ninth not to, kora!"

"What brought this about?"

Reborn ignored all the others in favour of answering Verde's question, "considering that he's now one of us, you'll find out."

That garnered a thoughtful look from Verde and perplexed ones from the others. Fon was calmly sipping his tea again, looking somewhat amused at the others' expense too.

Lal caught sight of his eyes crinkled in mirth and glared. "So you knew all along?!" She growled, the martial artist nodded amiably; not bothered at all by the shotgun pointed in his direction. The bluenette just fired off a loud shot and Fon's hands blurred for a moment as Skull ducked under the table. The martial artist then pulled back the sleeve of his robe to reveal the bullet resting in his palm.

"W-whoa! Calm down Lal, kora!"

Lal pointed her gun at the blond, making him back down into his seat again before turning to the hitman. "Considering how far he's come, I'm going to assume you've been teaching him for some time." Not to mention trying to get information off the hitman when he didn't want to give it to you was like pulling teeth from a rock. "I don't know what made you do such a stupid thing and risk your reputation for a brat like him but I'm not going to save you from Iemitsu when he finds out!"

"Iemitsu's an idiot." Reborn scoffed. But he couldn't help the quirk of his lips, Lal had basically just stated that she wouldn't be telling anyone.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Have you heard of the rumours concerning my apprentice?"

"Wait-! Those rumours are true?! I thought it was just some stupid thing since I'd never seen you train anyone, kora." Colonnello's eyes widened comically. "That kid's your apprentice?!"

Reborn just grinned at the blond as he stood up, stretching his limbs. "Well now that you know, keep your mouths shut. We can deal with Tsuna's status as Sky Arcobaleno when it pops up." He started to walk back toward the stairs as Fon looked at him curiously.

"It's late and I'd like to check up on Tsuna again." The hitman glanced back to the group at the table. "We can discuss whatever else when he wakes up, it's not like we know what really happened anyway."

* * *

Reborn was surprised to find Tsuna awake when he opened the door to his old room. The brunet had his right hand in front of his face, orange-glazed eyes staring intently at the flaming pacifier in his palm. Reborn's brow quirked at the odd scene as he cleared his throat, "Dame-Tsuna. What are you doing?"

His voice snapped the brunet out of his trance and Tsuna turned his head toward the hitman as the flame in his hand went out. His honey-brown orbs widened with something akin to fear and he sat up with a gasp, ignoring his protesting body as he scrambled back and bumped into the headboard. Tsuna released a soft choked sound as he huddled against the dark mahogany wood and sat on his free hand; the other in a cast.

Reborn frowned before stalking forward, and stopped when the brunet whimpered and shook his head, still staring fearfully at the hitman. 'What did the hell did that bastard do?!' Thought Reborn angrily as he took in the brunet's behaviour; reminiscent of what the brunet was like in the past.

Tsuna could only stare in shock at the adult version of Reborn. He didn't want to see raven haired man dead again and he certainly didn't want to be the one to kill him again! Reborn was supposed to be a baby, not an adult! He'd lost to Checkerface hadn't he?! He gulped as Reborn continued to approach, trying to make himself as small as possible and sitting on his hand so nothing could be used to hurt the raven.

"Tsuna." The brunet flinched and Reborn grimaced at the uncharacteristic soft tone he'd just used; comforting people certainly wasn't something he was used to, but the brunet's mental state was worrying. "Dammit, Tsuna. It's me, Reborn." He watched the teen shake his head and growled in frustration as he approached the bed, ignoring the way the brunet curled up and shivered at his approach.

Placing a knee on the plush cover the hitman reached out. Tsuna had curled himself into a ball, face buried into his bare knees and still sitting on his hand. Reborn knew that the position had to hurt what with the brunet's injuries. The hitman placed his hand on the chocolate brown locks, ignoring the flinch as he ran his fingers through the soft hair he had often used as a seat.

He continued with the gesture, frowning a little at the slight bumps he felt on the scalp, until he saw the brunet's shoulders start to relax a bit and the face peek out at him, large honey-brown eyes staring into his own. The eyes examined the hitman for a long moment, as if trying to gauge the truth.

Reborn blinked as shaky fingers suddenly traced his cheek, realising that the teen had uncurled himself and watched as the fear in those eyes melted away slightly, his cheek tingling from the touch. He let himself be pushed back on his elbows when Tsuna placed his hands on the hitman's chest and observed as the brunet crawled between his legs and a fluffy brown head lay against his front.

Tsuna had listened to the voice inside him that told him that this was really Reborn. He'd felt relieved as he'd touched the man and nothing bad had happened. But he couldn't be sure until he knew for certain and so he'd pushed the man back and placed his head against the suited chest.

When the brunet heard the steady thumps of life within the adult's body, felt the warmth radiating off the man and smelt that familiar scent of espresso with a hint of expensive cologne he couldn't help but relax completely; the fear of hurting the other draining away.

Reborn felt relief as he observed the tension in those shoulders melting away and brought an arm around Tsuna's waist as he sat up. Obviously, whatever had been plaguing the brunet was gone now and he huffed softly into the fluffy hair. He felt something lift off his own shoulders as he took in the warmth and the strawberry vanilla scent that wafted off the very much live body in his arms. He really hadn't noticed how much the brunet's supposed death had affected him and the thought that Tsuna could still disappear at any moment had him squeezing the teen.

Tsuna made a soft pained sound as his ribs were contracted and his arm squeezed; finally noticing the stinging pain that came with broken bones. He pulled away reluctantly to blink at the cast on his arm and wonder when he'd been treated. The brunet then blushed slightly as he realised he was only dressed in a pair of purple boxers with a mini-bears-on-motorcycles print and an over-sized dress shirt. He could see bandages scattered all over his bare legs and tugged the shirt up to see the bandage he could feel wrapped around his chest. Experimentally, he shifted his left arm and winced when his shoulder throbbed.

Reborn watched the brunet look over himself; it wasn't like Tsuna hadn't had broken bones before. And he couldn't help but smirk as the brunet went back to examining the boxers in confusion. "Those are an unused pair from Skull and the shirt's one of mine."

"Ah..." _'Skull_?' The brunet wanted to say but although he formed the name with his lips, the sound didn't come out. Tsuna frowned in confusion as he opened his mouth to speak again, there were so many questions that had suddenly tumbled into his mind like; where was he and how did he get here? And why Reborn was an adult and were the other Arcobaleno here too? And he needed to apologise for being so weak that the orange pacifier had ended up around his neck. Yet no sound came out.

Reborn wrapped a cool hand against the teen's neck and allowed the hand to glow with sun flames as he tried to examine what was wrong. Tsuna tilted his head curiously and watched the raven's brown furrow. "Nothing seems to be damaged... Tch!" Reborn glowered as his hand unconsciously tightened, quickly letting go as soon as the brunet choked when the bruised area was pressed. "So this is the price..."

_'Price? What price?'_ mouthed Tsuna. It was lucky Reborn knew how to read lips. Or maybe not so lucky.

Reborn glared at the brunet, who backed away at the intense look, Tsuna was stopped when a hand clamped down on his free arm. "What the hell made you go and fight one of the most dangerous men in the world, alone?!" And Reborn shook the arm in his grip in frustration. "You disappeared for a week, Tsuna! A week!"

But Reborn knew, he knew that the silly selfless brat would do it to get his and the other's bodies back and it wasn't like Tsuna had much of a choice, this was The Man with the Iron Hat after all. He pulled the brunet closer and hugged him, growling into the soft brown hair, "You're such an idiot Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna was completely confused as to what Reborn was doing and why he couldn't speak. Reborn sounded angry but was hugging him and the whole thing just seemed more confusing. And he'd been gone a week?! When did that time pass? But then again even he wasn't sure how long he had been trapped in Wonomichi's illusions or how long he had been fighting Checkerface.

He remembered that the last time he was conscious he'd been fighting a losing battle with Checkerface along with Natsu before running into the shadows and ending up- somewhere and his body had mostly been on auto-pilot by then. But he could recall something, a price, Reborn had mentioned a price.

**_"You should be happy I granted your wish, although it will be temporary. And now I'm taking the payment for sustaining the original forms, even yours."_**

Tsuna gasped as the words echoed in his mind and pulled back a little to grip Reborn's shoulders and stare intently into the sharp angular face; his eyes drinking in the sight. Euphoria ran down his spine and a smile broke out on his face even as tears welled in his eyes. _'Y-you- This is real?! It's not an illusion?!_' Tsuna ran his hands up and into the spiky hair, tipping the already lopsided fedora off as Leon crawled onto the bedside table instead. The brunet grinned. _'You have your body back! Oh, thank god!'_

Reborn just narrowed his eyes at the stupidly happy face, ignoring the warmth that came from the boy's hands in his hair. He gripped the teen's cheek (the one without a bandage) and pulled on it painfully. "And look at your condition now, Dame-Tsuna." 'I wonder what he means by this being real.'

The brunet was too happy to care about the abuse his cheek was undergoing and the glare as he tackled his teacher, snuggling into the suit that was starting to wrinkle. Reborn grunted as he got pushed back onto the covers. He swore that all the Sawada's could kill people with hugs alone, it didn't even matter that Tsuna was injured. At least he wasn't a baby anymore; it was hard enough back then escaping Tsuna's grip without having to shoot the teen. At least Giotto and Maman never tried to hug him (for fear of death in Giotto's case).

Reborn wasn't exactly sure _why_ Tsuna liked to hug him despite the constant abuse the hitman put him under nor why he let the teen do so, although it probably had to do with the fact that the teen was closer to him than anyone else. The hitman never shared his occupation with anyone; he'd always been a lone wolf, and so the brunet had been the first person ever to see and experience what he did.

A muffled sound interrupted Reborn's thoughts and he looked down into brown orbs on a pouting face. _'You were so much easier to cuddle when you were a baby.'_ the brunet whined; his expression mock upset and although no sound came from the teen's lips Reborn could clearly place a tone with the face.

He bopped the teen's head, growling "then you shouldn't have made such a stupid sacrifice to turn us back." The brunet just rubbed his sore head before relaxing into Reborn with a sigh, he didn't care that it cost his voice to turn Reborn back. And the others, if the blurred image, that flashed through his mind, of several adults lying prone on the ground was true.

His battered body was already complaining about all the movement now that the euphoria was wearing off. He wiggled around to get comfortable for a moment before falling asleep instantly to the lulling sound of Reborn's beating heart.

Reborn grimaced at the very much asleep teen on top of him before releasing an exasperated sigh and kicking off his leather shoes. He manoeuvred around to get his suit jacket off and pulled the covers over the both of them. Then the hitman grabbed his phone and sent a short text before Leon turned the bedside lamp off with his tongue and Reborn fell asleep to the soft sounds of Tsuna's breathing.

* * *

Tsuna quietly closed the door behind him and peered down the hallway.

He'd manage to wake before Reborn and untangle himself from the hitman without waking him up, a feat in and of itself. He was glad to have woken up early though; whenever he slept with Reborn he was always woken up in some form of pain or another -lasers, defibrillators, mallets, guns, you-name-it- and Reborn grumbling something about not being a teddy bear. Now that Reborn was an adult he shuddered to think of the pain that could be inflicted upon him. It really wasn't his fault he was a cuddler, it was just an ingrained habit from when he'd slept with Giotto.

After waking he'd gone to the adjoining bathroom suite and taken a look at his injuries. He found that his arm and some of his ribs were still broken and a multitude of bruises and scrapes decorated his body, the most prominent one being the hand shaped bruise around his throat from when Checkerface had grabbed him. He was surprised to find the hole he'd gotten when Checkerface had stabbed his shoulder had been mostly healed although the flesh was still tender and ached when he put too much strain on it, he could feel traces of sun flame from whatever healing it'd undergone though and had to resist the urge to hug the hitman in the bed to thank him.

He had then taken the painkillers that had been left for him on the bedside table before rummaging through the large dark-wood wardrobe. The brunet had been surprised to find casual clothes among the Armani suits and had donned a plain black T-shirt and track-pants, both of which were too large but would serve their purpose.

Tsuna placed his pacifier into his pocket and bent down to roll up the pants as he noted the empty hall, though there was a hole in the wall to his left. Padding barefoot toward the hole he looked through to see a torn up room and... Robots? fixing the flooring. He blinked at the strange things; they looked a little like the mini-Mosca Spanner had.

The robots stopped their work to turn to him, their eye...things glowing red and Tsuna backed away warily; suddenly creeped out. Maybe it was better not to wonder around wherever he was. Still backing away from the creepy robots he didn't notice someone behind him until he bumped into a solid chest.

Tsuna's eyes widened, cursing himself for being caught off guard and ducked down, sweeping his left leg back and around to trip whoever it was. When he met no resistance, meaning whoever it was had jumped, he followed through with the next move; putting his free hand against the ground and launching his other leg into the air for a spin kick.

When his leg was caught in a solid grip he cursed inwardly and kicked with his other foot only for that to be caught too. Now he was upside-down and stuck. Well, not necessarily, he could see white cotton pants in front of his face and lit his free hand with his flames to set his opponent on fire only to be let go abruptly. As he was stumbling up from the sudden release, a hand grabbed his wrist and he launched his leg up for the classic knee-in-the-groin only to have that stopped by another hand.

"Tsuna!"

The brunet blinked at his name being called by a familiar tone in an unfamiliar voice. He peered up and got his first good look of his opponent. Jet black hair framed a worried face, dark brown eyes with light crinkles around the edge as if the owner smiled often. A long braid trailed over a red-robed shoulder and a monkey sat on the man's head. Tsuna gaped as he mouthed, _'Fon-sensei?'_

The martial artist gave his usual serene smile as he let the other go, running a hand up and into the soft brown locks to ruffle the teen's hair. "Good to see you still practise my training moves, although I don't recall teaching you that last one."

Tsuna blushed at the soft reprimand; that move wasn't exactly a martial arts style after all, and bowed apologetically to his martial-arts teacher. Fon just smiled and ruffled the brunet's hair again, allowing Lichi to cross into the soft hair, before retracting his hand and tucking it into a sleeve. "I'm glad to see you with so much energy, I hope those injuries aren't too painful... Reborn had to stop healing, saying something about it being detrimental to you."

Tsuna nodded; although sun flames could speed up the healing process, it was limited. If you used too much in one go the flames end up killing cells rather than healing them.

The brunet continued to stare at Fon's adult form, noting how fit he looked despite the loose robe and pouted that his Sensei was taller than him. 'Everyone's taller than me, except girls, but that's not the same!'

Fon frowned as the brunet remained silent and reached out to tilt Tsuna's head up. The martial artist let his lips quirk as he received a curious look from the brunet. "You are very quiet, Tsuna. What's wrong?" The martial artist's brow knitted as Tsuna turned his head away, biting his lip.

Tsuna didn't want to worry his other teacher by telling him that he couldn't speak anymore. He was sure Fon wouldn't be happy and if Fon was here then that meant the Storm Arcobaleno knew exactly what was going on and why he was in adult form like Reborn did. So Tsuna did the only thing he could; he ran.

Bolting out the other way the brunet ran past several doors, all in a different colour of the rainbow with a plaque on the front and down a flight of stairs. He didn't know where he was and didn't recognise the place as any of the safe houses he'd visited with Reborn so he just went with his gut. Tsuna also realised he'd taken the monkey along for the ride when Lichi started chittering at him from his head but decided to deal with it later.

To say Fon was surprised to see the teen run away like the hounds of hell were after him would be an understatement. He stood frozen for several moments until Skull stuck his sleepy head out of a purple door. "Fon? What are you doing?" Skull didn't have time to react as a red blur brushed past him.

Tsuna ran past a dining room and kitchen. He turned the next corner and onto another flight of stairs, too rushed to notice anyone coming up. The brunet released a yelp as he crashed into someone and they tumbled down together; vaguely feeling a pair of arms wrap around him as they fell.

Tsuna groaned from his prone position, still seeing stars from his dizzying descent and felt his ribs and arm protest at the tumble. He heard a sound from beside him and snapped his eyes open to see startling blue. He blinked, brows furrowing in confusion until someone's breath brushed his cheeks. "You can get off me now, kora."

The brunet sat up as he realised the blue had been someone's eyes and tilted his head when he heard a groan from under him. He looked down to blush as he noted that he'd been sitting on the person and hastily got up, offering his hand to help the other. As they both managed to stand on steady feet the snickering from behind them got louder until it turned into loud guffaws.

"Ahaha, I can't believe you fell down the stairs! Looks like you need more training, idiot student!" The blue haired female gave a predatory grin to the blond man and the man gulped.

"But Lal, it wasn't my fault!"

By this point Tsuna had already guessed who these two were; Lal and Colonnello, Two ex-COMSUBIN agents who worked for his father. He remembered meeting them in their baby forms when his father came over and had already seen Lal's adult form during the trip to the future.

The two were devolving into an argument when he felt something land on his shoulder. He smiled at Falco as the bird started running its beak through his hair and jolted as he recalled the monkey that had been on him before the tumble. Reaching up, the brunet fetched Lichi from his hair nest and gazed worriedly as the monkey stumbled drunk-like in his palm with swirly eyes.

"Tsuna!"

The brunet blinked and looked up only to gulp as he saw the thunderous expression that had replaced the usual calm one on Fon's face. He turned tail, dashing down the hall again and into an elevator, pushing the button frantically as the Storm came rushing at him. The doors shut just as Fon got there and Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator descended. Lichi squeaked from his position on the brunet's arm and Falco, who'd flown after the teen, perched on Tsuna's shoulder again.

Lal and Colonnello stared at Fon, who had slumped down at the elevator doors. They were startled when the man stood up and asked, "Do you think Verde would mind if I broke his elevator?"

"Yes." Lal deadpanned.

"Why are you after the kid, kora?" Colonnello wondered.

* * *

Namimori, Japan

Giotto woke with tears streaming down his face and screaming his throat raw.

"TSUNA!"

His head jerked to the side as he was slapped.

"God dammit Giotto! Snap out of it!"

The blond turned his face back to see his red-headed best friend glaring at him. The glare did nothing to cover the obvious worry and anguish in those eyes.

G shook the blond when Giotto continued to stare uncomprehendingly. "You're wearing yourself out! How much sleep have you gotten?! All this fruitless searching is worrying your mum even more and it's bad enough with Tsuna de-"

Giotto knocked his friend's hands off his shoulders and backed away, vaguely noticing that he was in the disciplinary committee's office that was being used as an impromptu Vongola base during their stay. He glared at G angrily, "Don't say it! Tsuna isn't-! He isn't-!"

The Vongola Decimo gripped his hair in frustration as he sunk to his knees, the fatigue and worries all spilling out in single whisper. "Oh God, G... What if he is...?" His quiet voice seemed to echo in the room.

"Then you accept it and let it go."

Giotto looked up to see a pale blond man with a trench coat leaning against the wall, piercing blue eyes staring straight at the blond.

"Alaude!" G growled from the side.

A loud message tone interrupted the storm guardian and Giotto fetched his phone from his back pocket. He scrubbed away his tear stains as he stared at the unregistered number for a few moments before shrugging carelessly and opening the text.

**Twin found safe and sound.**  
**Don't ask where or how. This phone doesn't take return calls or messages.**  
**Make sure you finish all that work.**

**-The Number One Hitman**

Giotto's hands shook as he re-read the text and read it once again.

G and Alaude just stared at the wide-eyed blond on the floor before sharing a look and approaching the blond warily.

"Giotto...?"

Both were completely unprepared to be tackled and glomped into oblivion by an ecstatic blond.

"He's alive! He's ALIVE! Oh, I just knew it!"

And Giotto placed a kiss on both his unconscious friends' faces before dropping them and kicking the door open with a 'Bang!' oblivious to the melon-head that was squashed between the door and the wall, and racing home to tell his mother and father the news.

"N-nufufufu... N-next time, I'm not checking on my idiot boss... Ack."

* * *

**A/N:** I really love abusing Daemon, don't I? This chapter _was_ originally about 8k words but I cut part of it, so the next chapter should be out pretty fast. We're now getting into something similar to the daily life arc, I suppose, this and the next few chapters are all about Tsuna's interations with the Arcobaleno.

As for whom can lip read and who can't, Lal, Colonnello, Fon and Reborn can as it's useful for their jobs. Skull, Viper (when she appears) and Verde can't as they don't really need the skill.

P.S. Poll's still open. Not sure about mild romance anymore but it's just touching that aspect of this story at this point.

**Would love to hear what you think!**

**R&R!**


	8. Chapter 7

Hitmen in Crisis 7

**A/N:** I just realised, but does Reborn and Tsuna's relationship seem too fast? Currently neither of them thinks of each other in that way, yet. I mean, Reborn was a baby and although I don't mind a romantic development when Reborn is in that form, in this story both of them kept to student/teacher/friend roles. But they're close due to the fact they've spent years together by now.

**Warnings:** Violence, cursing. I think that's all.

**Pairings:** R27, Arcobaleno27

**Disclaimer:** I don't own KHR.

This chapter has tons of silly Arcobaleno interaction. Also 7k+ words... I went a little crazy, I think.

_'Tsuna mouthing stuff.'_

_'Tsuna writing stuff.'_

Enjoy!

* * *

Tsuna quickly pressed the red button to stop the lift (it wouldn't do to be followed) before stumbling out, his bare toes curling as they met the cold floor, and stared. He was sure he'd end up at the first floor but he seemed to be in the basement; an underground lab to be exact. Among the looming machinery were long tables that held glass equipment and bubbling concoctions. The scent of burning chemicals clogged his nose as he sneezed.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi." A Darth Vader-like voice called from beside him.

Tsuna turned slowly and almost blasted whoever it was with his flames. A man in a lab-coat, a huge black breathing mask and spiky green hair stood beside him, the suspicious glowing test-tube in the heavily gloved hand threw an eerie glow over the masked face which plain creeped the brunet out.

It was lucky the mask was lifted before Tsuna had activated his flames. And the brunet found himself looking into slanted green eyes flamed by a pair of glasses. _'Verde?'_ the brunet mouthed as he cocked his head. His interactions with the scientist were limited in the past and Reborn never met with the scientist if he could help it.

"Is there something you want, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Verde had turned to place the test-tube into a fume hood, he then removed his gloves and protective wear before turning back to the teen who'd piqued his interests. It wasn't everyday you met someone who had Reborn's attention, not to mention The Man with the Iron Hat's.

Tsuna was frowning at the use of his full name, some people seemed to love using it but he thought it was too formal. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a rough snout against his leg and he bent down to pat the crocodile on the head. Falco and Lichi screeched at the reptile from atop Tsuna's head and the croc snapped its jaws at the mammals.

"Keiman, don't pick fight's with the others. Your flight incapability limits you when going against the _Falco Rusticolus_ although you may stand a chance against Fon's pet if you take into account the sudden speeds you are capable of generating against the monkey's agility..."

Tsuna stared up wide-eyed as Verde continued to ramble on about the ways Keiman could fight against Lichi using words he that he couldn't follow. The crocodile seemed to have gotten bored of his master's speech and had gone to push a pair of slippers toward the brunet. Tsuna smiled in thanks as he slipped his feet in and gave Keiman another pat.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi." The brunet stood to attention as his name was called once again. "I don't like to repeat myself but I suppose I must; what are you doing here?"

Tsuna scratched the back of his head nervously before mouthing, _'I don't actually know where I am.'_ He pouted as Verde just gave him a blank stare, obviously the scientist couldn't read lips. The brunet's eyes then caught something on the scientist and his eyes lit up as he made his way forward.

Verde was startled to see the brunet approaching him and observed curiously when the teen reached out to his chest, feeling an odd reaction in the form of his heart speeding up as the brunet's fingers pressed against his lab coat. 'Perhaps my limitations to human contact have physiologically affected me in such a way that my heart palpitates when I am touched.' The green-haired man mused to himself.

Tsuna had taken what he needed and was quick to balance the thing against the cast on his left arm as he wrote with his right hand; his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he did so.

The lightning Arcobaleno blinked as the teen shoved a notepad into his face, _his_ notepad to be exact and reached out to pulled the brunet's wrist away to that he could read the words. _'Call me Tsuna! As for why I'm here... I actually don't know where I am, could you tell me?'_

Verde cocked an eyebrow at the note and looked past the paper at the brunet's face. Bad mistake, the brunet was looking at him with large teary eyes and a small pout on his lips; a perfect imitation of the 'puppy-dog' face. The scientist found that he couldn't resist the imploring look and found himself explaining even though he usually hated to explain things to 'incompetent fools' as he liked to refer to them.

"You are in the Arcobaleno Casa or House, as it used to be called. It's an apartment that housed all of us before we changed into our cursed forms."

Tsuna's mouth formed a small _'Oh...'_ and he nodded. Now it made sense, it explained why the Arcobaleno all seemed to be here and why Reborn had a full wardrobe even though Tsuna had never seen this place before.

"It is also located in the north-east part of Milan."

Tsuna's mouth fell open as his eyes widened. 'Milan?!' He thought he was still in Japan! When did he get to Italy?

He twitched as a large hand encircled his jaw and a small torch was switched on and pointed down his throat. When he tried to ask the man what he was doing (despite the fact he couldn't speak) he was ordered to keep his mouth open.

Verde grunted as he found nothing wrong with the teen's pharynx and moved his hand to the boy's throat instead. The scientist allowed his flames to manifest as he tried to read the small electrical impulses in the throat.

Tsuna had closed his jaw and was now watching the scientist's expression. He could feel a slight tingling on his throat but felt that no harm would come to him from this man; at least he hoped his intuition was right…

"Nothing seems to be wrong, although it would require a proper scan before such a conclusion can be made... I'm assuming this it the price The Man with the Iron Hat took?"

Tsuna nodded before scribbling down _'He calls himself 'Checkerface'_. The brunet watched Verde nod thoughtfully at his words before flipping the page and scribbling more down. _'Can you do the scan? I want to find out what's stopping me from talking.'_

_Verde quirked a brow when he finished reading the question, he then turned a sharp green gaze on the teen._ "You would allow me to perform an experimental examination of your body after Reborn went to all that trouble to keep me from you yesterday?"

Tsuna shrugged his shoulders helplessly; sometimes he didn't understand his teacher at all. He had a feeling that despite the scientist's reputation, Verde was reluctant to actually cause harm when there was no reason to… although the scientist's reasons could be questionable. _'It's not going to hurt, right?' _He beamed at Verde, eyes crinkling up, when the older man nodded slowly. _'It should be fine then.'_

To say that Verde was surprised would be an understatement. No, the scientist was shocked. Shocked that anyone would willingly allow him to make any sort of examination of their bodies. Sure, he had a degree in medicine too but he didn't deal well with patients; they made too much noise, they cried, they wailed, and everything that drove the man up a wall. It was the reason he stuck to the basis of research; discovering the little nuances of how things work and inventing new things was something that met his own need for science and limited his contact with his own race.

Which happened to be something that humanity seemed to agree on because he, apparently, lacked human morals. In truth, he liked to ignore such righteous opinions because he did have morals, just of a different ilk to the more common ones. He was a scientist who dealt with the mafia and the underground on a regular basis. Weaponry, poisons and home-made defences were his home and normal morals had no place in it.

So now he was staring into the beaming face of the teen in front of him -someone who most likely still had those morals- and he wasn't sure at all on how to react. So he did what he knew; he ordered Keiman to bring him another notebook so he could write down and study this strange emotion welling inside him. Then he ordered the brunet to strip and get inside the machine.

It seemed Reborn was right, Sawada Tsunayoshi would be an interesting study.

* * *

Reborn grumbled as he stalked down the stairs to the fifth floor where he could feel the presence of Fon, Colonnello and Lal. He'd passed Skull who had gone into the kitchen on the sixth floor for breakfast. The hitman was now hunting for his student, annoyed yet proud that the teen had managed to escape from their bed without waking him. He'd donned another crisp suit and Leon was perched in his usual position on the hitman's fedora.

When he got down he was surprised to see the usually calm martial artist looking quietly irate and staring pointedly at the elevator doors that lead to Verde's lab. Colonnello looked disturbed and was telling the martial artist to calm down while Lal looked ready to shoot them both.

"What are you doing?"

The hitman's voice caught their attention and they turned to him.

"The brat ran into the elevator." Lal stated as she jerked her thumb at the metal doors. "For some reason, Fon was chasing after him"

Reborn stalked to the elevator doors and gave them a good hard kick, using his flames to enhance the blow, the other three stared as the doors were blown back and metal debris fell into the dark hole.

The hitman would deal with the fact that Tsuna was with Verde first before interrogating the martial artist.

* * *

Both Verde and Tsunayoshi were startled when an explosion rang through the lab. They were sitting on the edge of the platform that was part of a large machine. The scientist was helping the teen untangle himself from the various wire receptors that he'd stuck on before the scan, not trusting the teen to be able to handle the delicate equipment properly. Tsuna was still wearing Reborn's track-pants but his chest was bare and he couldn't help the giggle that escape his lips as Verde tugged off another wire from his side.

The scientist was grumbling under his breath about 'barbarians. Storming my lab...' when he heard the giggle. He glanced up to see Tsuna holding his mouth and experimentally poked the side again, watching as the brunet twitched violently and snorted. He unconsciously felt his lips quirk up as he continued to repeat the motion, making sure not to poke any of the wounds, and was quick to record his findings in a notebook with his other hand. 'Applying gargalesis on Tsunayoshi causes him to laugh, the sound clearly audible even though he is now incapable of speech. This seems to induce a pleased reaction from myself and the motion is quick becoming an addiction.'

Verde felt the teen grab his hand and he turned to find the brunet flushed and panting, holding his ribs with a slight grimace and glaring at the green-haired man accusingly. The scientist could not help but smirk amusedly back.

"What are you two doing?"

Tsuna shuddered at the dark tone and he could feel Verde's hand tense in his own. The two turned to see Fon, Colonnello and Lal staring at them wide-eyed and Reborn standing at the front with Leon in gun form aimed at the scientist's head. The four of them were quite surprised to see Verde smile in a way that had nothing to do with scientific discoveries but pure enjoyment.

"I thought I told you not to touch Tsuna, Verde."

The brunet wanted to protest but couldn't when he was still partially attached to the machines. Verde had gone back to his default monotonous expression as he turned back to Tsuna and returned to removing the rest of the receptors. "I have not caused him any harm. And I don't take orders from anyone, certainly not you." Verde then pressed a remote in his coat pocket and a flying robot with in-built machine guns came swooping down on the other four Arcobaleno.

Tsuna wiggled as the scientist wrapped his arms around him to reach his back, not at all worried because he knew; deep down, that Verde wouldn't hurt the others... too badly. Plus, he believed in both his teachers' skills. He'd been surprised to find that Verde could be gentle too, although he supposed that you needed a steady hand in order to work with delicate chemicals all day. The brunet caught a whiff of the scientist's scent as Verde leaned down a little and wiggled his nose, leaning forward to bury his face into the man's shirt to breathe deeper.

"There, that's the last of it." Verde muttered as he dropped the last of the wires and backed away only to find that he couldn't. The teen had buried himself into his shirt. "...What are you doing?"

Tsuna grinned up at Verde for a moment before scribbling into the notebook. _'You smell like mint! Do you normally eat them?'_

Verde blinked at the words uncomprehendingly for a second before turning away from the teen, feeling his face redden. He certainly wasn't expecting his only guilty pleasure to be found out so easily. Yes, he had a love for mints, especially Italian branded ones, but it wasn't like he ate them that often... did he?

"Wow, I've never seen you blush before, kora!" Verde glared at the blonde who'd run up to them, only slightly singed. 'I'll have to improve the agility in that model.'

Tsuna was looking at the scientist's blushing face when the thought 'Verde looks cute like that.' Entered, undeterred, into his mind. He was distracted from his thoughts when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and turned to find Fon smiling down at him with Lichi back on his head. He only wished the smile was as serene as it normally was as he smiled shakily back.

"I think there's something you want to tell me, right Tsuna?"

Now the teen wished there was someone here to save him, he was sure Verde would not appreciate it if he were to blow up the lab in an attempt to escape.

"The idiot can't say anything. The price was his voice." Tsuna grimaced, of course Reborn would make everything worse, and he swore the baby- _man_ lived to torture him.

Fon turned to Reborn, surprised. Both Colonnello and Lal had also stopped to stare at the hitman, who just jerked his head in the direction of the teen.

Tsuna whimpered and backed away from the roiling dark aura he could feel coming from both his teachers, grabbing Verde's lab coat and ducking into it, much to the green haired man's protests.

The brunet yelped when something curled around his ankle and dragged him out. Suddenly finding himself hanging upside-down from a Leon rope and face-to-face with an irate Reborn.

_'Um... Hi?'_

Tsuna winced as Reborn poked the wound in his left shoulder, swinging from the force. "Don't 'hi' me Dame-Tsuna. What did I tell you about trusting suspicious people?"

_'But Verde's your comrade!_' The teen pouted as Reborn glared at him._ 'He was just checking what was wrong with my voice...'_

The hitman looked past the teen at the large orb-shaped machine and raised a brow. He then turned to Verde. "Did you find anything wrong?"

The scientist huffed as he adjusted his glasses. "No physical abnormalities, but the flames that normally flow all around a person's body were altered in Tsunayoshi's throat. He's still capable of small noises, though. As you might have noticed... You're lucky I still had this machine, usual scans would not have detected flames."

"Can it be fixed?" Wondered Fon as he peered at the large metal thing.

"No, unfortunately. Not unless I do more tests. I have never seen such a condition before and it doesn't seem to be a physical ailment." Verde eyed Tsuna critically and the brunet shivered at the somewhat crazy stare.

"No more random tests." Lal stated with finality as she folded her arms.

Tsuna felt Leon loosen around his ankle and was ready to flip and land on his feet when he was caught with an 'oof' in someone's arms. He looked up into Fon's face and smiled apologetically when he saw the Chinese man's worried look. _'Sorry for running, I didn't want to worry you._'

"You made me even more worried by running." Fon placed the brunet down and watched as Tsuna adjusted his arm cast. "I suppose Reborn has already told you that you are a fool."

The teen scratched his head sheepishly and pouted. _'Shouldn't you all be happy that you're all adults now?'_

"Not when it involves you sacrificing yourself, kora." Colonnello had come up close and was staring intently into the brunet's face, rubbing his chin. "Dunno what Reborn sees in you, you still look like a pipsqueak to me. Not to mention you falling down the stairs, kora."

_'Hey!'_ Tsuna mock punched the blond in the arm with his free hand.

"You still fall down the stairs, Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna gulped as he heard the safety of a gun being clicked off. He turned and held his right arm out in a placating gesture. _'It was an accident! Now put the __Leon__ down Reborn...'_

Just as the brunet was getting ready to fly, a loud rumble broke through the tension.

Tsuna's face bloomed red as he held his stomach.

Lal sighed and went up to the brunet, placing his (Reborn's) shirt over the teen's head. "Let's eat breakfast. I'm famished and who knows when this brat last ate."

* * *

Tsuna hadn't realised he had been starving until he saw the delicious stack of pancakes in the dining room. He wasn't sure when he had last eaten either and was quick to devour the food; at least it seemed Reborn wasn't going to steal off his plate this time.

The others had watched with some amusement as the ridiculously large stacks were being steadily reduced and Skull just stared on horrified before turning to Reborn.

"Is this why Senpai asked me to cook ten times the usual amount?!"

Reborn looked up from his breakfast and smirked. "Good work lackey, you actually managed to do something useful."

"That's because cooking is one of the few things he's actually good at, kora!" Colonnello crowed before being hit upside the head by Lal for talking with his mouth full.

"Hey, the Great Skull is the best at everything!"

"I doubt your thought processes are advanced enough to compute the necessary data for being the best at everything." Stated Verde dryly as he took a bite of pancake and looked through the notes on this morning's findings.

"Now, now. You should thank Skull for making so much, the rest of you aren't necessarily the best cooks."

"Hey! I can cook a mean steak when I want to! Kora!"

"You mean you can burn everything else while you're distracted by the meat, you incompetent fool!"

"Ouch Lal. At least I'm not as bad as Verde or Viper!"

"Tch. Avoiding everyone's bad cooking was one of good reasons for leaving this place."

"Hey, do you think Ranking Prince Fuuta would rank Tsunayoshi as the fastest eater?"

Everyone else turned to the direction Skull had been looking at to find Tsuna surrounded by clean plates and wiping his mouth with his free hand. The brunet put down the napkin to pick up the notepad that Verde had relinquished to him and showed it to Skull.

_'Thank you for the meal, it was delicious!'_He flipped the page. _'And call me Tsuna.'_

Skull didn't know whether to be afraid or happy with the smile directed his way as he nodded shakily. But he was pleased to get a genuine compliment for his cooking.

The brunet beamed in happiness before turning to scribble more. _'I was wondering about this but why is there a huge hole in the ceiling?'_

The others glanced up where they could see the hole which was much smaller than before. Red glowing orbs stared back at them.

"V-Verde, couldn't you choose a different colour for their eyes?"

Reborn ignored the Lackey in favour of answering Tsuna's question. "You made that. Well, you and Natsu." He nodded toward the cub who was sharing pancakes with Fon's monkey.

The brunet blinked back at him for a moment. Brow furrowing as he tried to recall what happened; he did remember firing off an X-burner near the end of the fight... But he had fired upward, wouldn't that destroy the ceiling?

"I think you were standing on this table and firing up. That was some flame, kora! The roof was also destroyed but it was fixed first. You're lucky Viper isn't here, kora."

Tsuna turned to the blond before facing the notepad and writing another question. He knew that just mouthing words or even sign language would be easier but not everyone knew the former and the latter only Colonnello, Lal and Reborn knew. Besides, it was rude to 'talk' when not everyone could understand it.

_'Where's Viper?'_

"She's on some mission with the Varia."

Tsuna nodded and glanced at Reborn, who gave him an imperceptible nod. He knew what mission it was; someone had been attacking the allies of the Vongola Famiglia and the Varia had been dispatched to offer assistance and track down the enemy.

'Speaking of the Vongola...' The brunet quickly tore out the page and scribbled a new note _'I was gone for a week, right? Is Giotto and everyone else okay?'_

Reborn snorted as Lal answered the question. "Iemitsu rushed over to Japan as soon as he could, which is about a day ago, Colonnello and I were with him before we detoured back to here because of this sudden change." She gestured to her adult body. "We don't actually know when you went missing. You are presumed dead at the moment." The bluenette looked sternly at Tsuna as he paled.

'Dead?! How?! I thought I was just missing?!' He wailed out silently in his head while gripping his hair. _'Oh my god! Giotto must be a mess!'_

The brunet stopped his silent panicking monologue when he was picked up by Reborn. The hitman sat in the brunet's seat and placed the brunet on the table in front of him after ordering Skull to clear the plates. Taking hold of Leon, the hitman changed the chameleon into a video camera and shoved the screen at the teen.

Tsuna stared in confusion at Reborn, whose expression was unreadable, before peering down at Leon-cam and pressing play.

Reborn could see the brunet's expression clearly from his seat and folded his arms to watch as the other Arcobaleno looked on. The others knew what Reborn was revealing to the brunet as he had shown them the day before when the teen was unconscious.

Tsuna watched as his doppelganger appeared on the tiny screen with a sense of dread filling his stomach. His expression became a sickly green as he continued to watch the events from a week ago and he was starting to regret eating now. Sure, it wasn't as bad as some of his experiences not to mention the darn illusions he had to live through. But what was really bad about the video was not the gory scene of his own severed head but of his brother and Kyoya's reactions.

The brunet noticed how shaky the video appeared near the end and peered up from the screen into blank obsidian eyes. He gazed into the eyes for a long moment, trying to read them, before mouthing, _'I'm sorry.'_

The raven huffed and shook his head, lowering his fedora as he did so. "Tch. Why are you apologising, Dame-Tsuna?"

The brunet bit his lip before nodding and patted Leon when the chameleon turned back. The lizard flicked its tongue at his cheek before crawling up his arm and into his hair.

Fon reached across the table to gently pat the teen's shoulder reassuringly. "Reborn's right, it's not your fault. The point is that you're safe now."

"As for Giotto, I already texted him. I have a feeling that he'll try getting in contact with me again though." said Reborn.

Tsuna nodded, relieved, then blinked as he remembered something and scribbled down a note. _'I think the head is S.K.Y-27's and illusions were used to make it seem more realistic.'_

The hitman stared at the note for a long moment as the others also took a peek, wondering who or what S.K.Y-27 is. Reborn then growled, "And when did S.K.Y-27's head go missing?"

The brunet tilted his head. _'When Takeshi and 'I' was attacked. You didn't know?'_

Reborn lowered his fedora, he would be sure to punish Shoichi and Spanner for keeping this information from him.

"As much as I'd love to know what you two are talking about, there's something else that needs to be done. Brat!" Lal barked. Tsuna snapped his head toward the bluenette who was watching him intently. "I want you to write a detailed report on what happened to you since talking is out of the option."

"Reborn's already told us that he's been teaching you, kora."

The brunet's eyes widened as he turned back to Reborn.

"They would find out eventually anyway, I thought it best to tell them upfront where I could watch their surprised reactions." Reborn grinned as he re-crossed his legs. Tsuna glared at the raven before turning back to Lal and nodding hesitantly.

The brunet placed his finger against his lip and nibbled on it gently as he contemplated how to write the report, he wasn't sure if he could include everything as he was disoriented and stuck in an illusion half the time. Report writing was something he had to get used to, clients usually expected some form of paper work handed in after an assignment and Reborn always demanded a detailed one whenever he went on solo missions for the raven.

Tsuna was startled out of his thoughts when his hand was pulled forcibly from his mouth; blinking up at the raven, he tilted his head in question.

"I thought I told you to stop doing that."

Tsuna shrugged helplessly as Fon chuckled from beside them. "You still have that habit... do you still love sweets?"

The brunet grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Reborn turned on the martial artist with a dark look, "Don't feed him, he'll go hyper and look at him already. He's barely rested half a day and he's got the energy to run about the apartment like it's nothing."

Tsuna pouted as Colonnello retaliated. "C'mon Reborn! He's a kid and kids love sweets, kora!"

"He's seventeen."

"Whoa, really?! He's really short- Hey!"

Tsuna had thrown a knife at the blond.

"I wouldn't insult his height, Colonnello. Be glad he doesn't have his gun."

"What the hell have you been teaching this kid, kora?!"

"Oh? Are you questioning me, Colonnello?"

"You wanna go, Reborn?!"

As the two started exchanging blows Tsuna huffed and blinked at a purple mop of hair near the edge of the table. He crawled and leaned over carefully, gripping the table with his one hand, to see a shivering Skull huddled under the table. The brunet balanced himself before reaching out and poking the man. When Skull lifted his head the brunet showed him a note, _'are you okay?'_

Skull stared into the upside-down reassuring smile the teen adorned and back to the note, looking back and forth for a long moment as the sounds of fighting echoed in the background accompanied by Lal's annoyed yelling, Verde's grumbling and Fon trying to placate the other two. He nodded slowly and gulped as he got a soft smile in response.

_'Cool! Then why don't you come out? I'll make sure they don't hurt you._'

Skull was surprised; he wasn't sure what to think of the brunet. He knew that the teen was the Vongola Decimo's brother, who was rather nice -at least Giotto never ridiculed him- but the brunet was also Reborn's apprentice. And that thought didn't bode well to the stuntman at all. But the brunet was the first person to offer to protect him and his smile was warm and reminded him of another person who'd smiled the same way, so he agreed to the invite and tried a shaky smile back.

Tsuna beamed as Skull seemed to calm a bit, he wasn't sure what he'd done to have the stuntman so jittery around him but he sure hoped it wasn't because of Reborn.

Skull grabbed the offered hand and remembered too late that the brunet was injured and didn't have enough limbs to hold onto the table. Tsuna yelped as he was pulled over the edge, quickly twisting and flipping his body over so he would land safely only to stumble as his feet met something soft. The brunet looked down from his crouched position to find himself standing on Skull's back.

Apparently the stuntman had dived forward in an attempt to save him.

Tsuna was quick to get off and help the purple haired man stand, bowing profusely in apology. Skull stared in shock for a short moment; people didn't usually bother apologising to him and certainly, his fellow Arcobaleno never bothered to. Then the stuntman felt himself blush in embarrassment as the brunet continued to bow and went about stopping the teen.

"Hey! Hey! It's fine!" Skull grabbed the teen's shoulders in an attempt to stop him and grinned confidently when the brunet looked at him. "I'm not known as the Great Immortal Skull for nothing!"

Tsuna blinked and smiled, mouthing; _'Thanks! You really are great!'_

And although the stuntman had no idea what the brunet just said he had a feeling that he'd just been complimented and thanked, and not for his skills as a stuntman or for entertainment either. The thought filled him with an odd warmth he hadn't felt in a long time and this time his smile was genuine.

The moment was lost as Skull screeched at the incoming G41* assault rifle, expecting to be hit only for a clatter to sound as Tsuna caught the weapon by its strap. The brunet grinned reassuringly at Skull for a moment before turning to find that Reborn and Colonnello had resorted to hand-to-hand combat. And that is understandable as Leon still sat upon Tsuna's head and Reborn's CZ75 had also been knocked away by a kick from the blond.

The brunet watched that gun sail above Fon's head and into the hole above them, there was a clang as one of the robots got knocked out followed by a protest from Verde. The brunet's expression darkened. The automatic response developed after too many run-ins with violent people (not to mention any names cough*skylark*cough*pineapple*cough*) showed itself as Tsuna readied the gun in his hands and fired off two shots at the fighting men.

Reborn and Colonnello jumped away and turned to the brunet with a glare. Although the hitman's expression became amused when he saw the anger rolling off the teen and that Colonnello was risking his head by arguing back.

"Hey, we're fighting here!"

Tsuna lifted his head to show off a calm smile that did not match the black aura in the background nor the tightening grip around the trigger.

_'If you have to fight, please do so in a non-crowded, inexpensive environment. I _**_don't_**_ want to be roped with the repair bills.'_

Skull shuddered and backed away from the brunet as that dark aura expanded then turned and ran out, yelling something about checking Oodako.

"Why would you be charged with the bill, kora?"

Tsuna's response was to fire again and the blond quickly ran out of the room with an irate brunet chasing and shooting at him. Leon leapt back to Reborn just as the brunet left the room.

"Whoa, stop! Kora!"

Lal turned to Reborn. "Why would he think that?"

The hitman shrugged. "It may have to do with the fact that Hibari and Mukuro always blamed him whenever they happened to meet and destroy something in their fights. And I may or may not have roped him with the repair bills for weapons and broken furniture." The last sentence was said quietly to himself but the ex-militant and martial artist heard him loud and clear and stared at him.

"I was in an infant's body; surely you wouldn't expect a child to pay." Reborn pulled his most innocent look.

"Tsuna is still underage." Fon muttered.

"That expression worked so much better before, now it just looks creepy." Lal looked away from the hitman. "It's going to take some time to get used to having our bodies back it seems."

"This face is the envy of the world." Growled Reborn, he stopped for a bit and huffed. "It seems some of our personalities have changed."

"Especially yours." Fon chuckled. "You used to walk around with this dark mysterious aura permanently surrounding you. It's still there but more subtle now. I think you enjoyed acting childish," said the martial artist as he brought a sleeve over his mouth.

The hitman shot a glare at Fon but didn't deny his words. It was true in a sense that all the Arcobaleno learnt ways to deal with the change after getting over the fact that they _had _changed. They usually had to act their appeared age when interacting with the ignorant public, or use misunderstandings to their advantage rather than being insulted by it.

For Reborn it had been a blow to his pride to have to act so childish, the first few weeks had been spent in a blinding rage that left destruction in his path. It was only after almost killing someone for being cooed at like he really was a child that Luce had forced him to see the silver lining, so to speak. He had to accept that he was stuck in the infant form and would not be getting out of it anytime soon. The hitman learnt to use the kindness that people reserved for children to his advantage and even enjoyed it in some ways. Surprising those who were ignorant of his status by turning up in absurd disguises and watching their horrified expressions became a favourite pastime and he could admit that the small size was advantageous on missions.

The same applied to the other Arcobaleno too. All of them had to suffer or avoid the cuddling, cooing, cheek-pulling menace called the child-loving race. At least most of them knew how to fight and avoid such situations but there were moments when circumstance caught up and attacking was a no-no due to the fact that the public had to stay ignorant. Reborn, Fon and Lal shuddered.

"I suppose we owe the brat."

Fon nodded in agreement. "And the price could have been worse... Although Tsuna will have to learn to stand writing for long periods of time when he needs to speak, but he's holding up well."

"Reborn! Stop him, kora!" The shout echoed from outside and the three Arcobaleno went to the window to find Colonnello running and dodging in the back garden with Tsuna trailing after him.

"He's sure got a lot of stamina."

"Of course, it's Tsuna after all."/"I'd expect no less from my student." Fon and Reborn replied at the same time.

The bluenette stared at them blankly for a moment. "You know, I can see Fon getting proud of his students and expressing it, but it's weird seeing Reborn do it especially now that you're back to this form."

"Don't ignore me, you guys!" Colonnello growled before spinning and launching a kick at the teen.

Tsuna leapt back and pointed the rifle, firing off several successive shots which the blond man just managed to dodge.

"He's pretty good one handed." Lal commented with surprise. "Has he used that model before?"

"No, but he's used similar ones though." Reborn was watching the brunet's movement critically, if the teen made so much as a stupid mistake the hitman would be on him before the teen could scream (silently). Although the fact that Lal was impressed with the brunet's skill meant that the teen was doing better than good.

"What did he have to do that involved sniper rifles?" asked Fon.

The hitman grunted and gave a noncommittal shrug. Assassination and mission details were not something you just told people, even if they were close. You wouldn't be trusted in the underground world if you shared such information, even a little rumour of info leaking could ruin someone's career.

The martial artist sighed and nodded. He understood, after all, he also took on such missions.

Lal looked surprised at the implication and turned to Reborn. "That brat's killed before? He doesn't look like he could hurt a fly!"

The hitman glanced at Lal for a moment then stared pointedly out the window where loud gun shots could be heard.

"Whoa, haha. You missed!"

The three looked down at the two in the garden again.

Tsuna was standing back, holding the smoking rifle and grinning at the blond mischievously.

There was a crack as the branch above Colonnello broke and the blond jumped away, just before getting impaled by the large trunk.

"Nice one, kora! Let's see how you dodge these!" And the blond grinned, launching his throwing knives at the brunet, who feinted and blocked some with the rifle in his hand.

"I think they've completely forgotten why they were fighting in the first place." Fon sweat-dropped.

Lal opened the window to yell at the blond. "That's pathetic Colonnello! You can't even hit one injured kid!"

"Hey Lal! This is great! I haven't had a decent workout in age- Ack! Hey!"

"Ahahaha!" Tsuna was clutching his stomach and ignoring the pain shooting up from his ribs in favour of laughing at the large splotch of brown mud that was dripping down the back of the blond man's head. It was lucky he spotted the large pond in the plant overgrowth that looked to have been left unattended for years, and was now just a large pool of mud and weeds.

The others were surprised to hear the peal of pure laughter from the brunet. It was the loudest sound he had made since waking.

"Ahahaha!" Tsuna gasped for breath and continued to laugh. "A-ahaha! Mmmph-!" The brunet went down as a large mud ball collided with his face.

"Ha! Take that, kid!"

Colonnello dodged the next blob of mud that came flying at him only for the one after that to hit his chest dead centre. He grunted, his eyes shining in determination as he prepared the next attack.

"Why are Colonnello and Tsunayoshi throwing mud at each other?"

The three Arcobaleno at the window looked away from the fighting duo to stare at the ceiling where Verde, wearing a metal helmet with inbuilt scope goggles, was sticking his head out of.

"So that's where you went. What are you doing up there?" Asked the martial artist.

The scientist pushed his glasses up (or down in this case) and glowered at Reborn. "Due to _someone's_ weapon, I am needed up here to repair one of my A.R. Bots."

The hitman was about to give a scathing retort when a brown blob flew by and hit the scientist square in the face. Making Reborn opt for grinning at the scientist instead while Fon hid a smile behind a sleeve and Lal laughed outright.

"Whoops! Sorry if I hit anyone!" Came a call from out the window.

"Keiman." The crocodile looked up to where his master called from. "Activate Operation: Destroy Rain." The croc complied; turning to crawl toward the control his master had left on the table and stepping on the blue button.

Colonnello and Tsuna were interrupted from their warfare, complete with mud soldiers and mud tanks, as a panel on the side of the house slid open and a large metal cannon came out and swivelled to lock on the mud covered duo.

The mud covered blond gulped when he saw the contraption. It was something that Verde had made when they still lived in the house. It was used to stop the blond (and sometimes Lal) from tracking mud all over the place whenever he came back from a particularly gruelling training session. It had also been made at the request of Luce, who had gotten sick of cleaning up the mess.

Tsuna just stared at the thing warily, wondering what was going on. He got his answer when Colonnello dived to his side of the field and grabbed him just as a huge torrent of water spouted out of the cannon. The blond took the brunt of the blast with his back as the two were pushed from the force of the water jet.

As the scientist got down from the hole and headed toward the restroom grumbling under his breath, the other three Arcobaleno on the sixth floor were watching the duo in the backyard with varying degrees of amusement. When the jet of water stopped, all that was left in the garden were two soaked people no longer covered in mud.

"Goddamit Verde! What if Tsuna's injuries got worse, kora! That water isn't exactly soft you know!"

The blond was shaking a fist at the machine from his slumped position over the brunet. Tsuna groaned and bushed his wet bangs away from his eyes before peering up at the irate, soaked blond on top of him. The brunet couldn't help the laugh that burst from his lips when he saw the way the ex-militant was yelling and gesturing rudely at the cannon.

Colonnello stopped when he heard the kid laugh and looked down to see Tsuna covering his mouth with his free hand, cheeks puffed out as the brunet attempted to choke back his guffaws.

"Hey! This isn't funny!"

That did it. Tsuna couldn't hold back anymore as he started laughing; rolling around and clutching his stomach as he did so. The absurdity of the situation; both of them soaked through, the fact that Verde had invented a cannon, of all things, for the purpose of cleaning and the fact that the Rain Arcobaleno wasn't just a gun toting baby but a fun-loving adult seemed so very hilarious to the brunet.

Colonnello found himself reluctantly grinning as he stared at the teen and eventually couldn't help laughing along. The kid's laugh was infectious.

The blond was surprised. The few times he had met the brunet before had given him the impression that the kid was shy and ordinary; even if the kid had greater than average skills when it came to hand-to-hand combat. When he heard that the brunet was Reborn's student he had expected the brunet to be the serious type, sort of like how Reborn was in the past, the ex-military man certainly wasn't expecting this hyperactive teen who threw mud-balls at people and could use a gun with enough skill to harm but not kill.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, new impressions all round! And yes, it's _still _the morning of the same day...

*No, I have no idea what rifle Colonnello carries so I just chose a model that seemed similar (plus, his guns seem to change...). The Heckler und Koch G41 is of German origin. I think adult!Colonnello uses something like an AI AS50 sniper rifle. Either way, I know nothing about guns.

And 'Hey' and 'Kora' basically mean the same thing so I interchanged them when it fit.

A.R. Bots - Agile Repair Bots

**Would love to hear what you think! **

**R&R!**


	9. Extra: Omakes and Silliness

**A/N:** I know I told a few reviewers that I'd put Extras into a whole other story (I swear I'm just going to end up writing a prologue or something) but this isn't exactly set in the past. In fact, it's just ridiculous omakes that my mind came up with suddenly... So I thought it would be perfect as a little thing for getting a hundred reviews! Gosh I love you people. 33

It might be weird for me to put it all in a chapter but the next chapter's long enough as it is and since the last one ended on a happy note I thought the humour would fit.

I'll get to replying to reviews as soon as I finish cramming Chemistry and math, thank you for your patience. *bows*

* * *

**In which the twins react the same.**

"Reborn!"

The hitman managed to get a glimpse of an orange blur before something collided into him with enough force to knock the wind out of him and arms wrapped around his small body like a vice.

Tsuna clung to his infant teacher for dear life, snuggling into that spiky hair and breathing in the heady scent of espresso that always clung to his tutor. He laughed happily at having caught up to the errant hitman and gripped his teacher harder, oblivious to the choked gasp from his tutor.

"Hey! Sawada! I think you killed him to the EXTREME!"

"Eh?" The brunet blinked at the extravagant boxer who'd run after him, then to his tutor in his arms and screeched when he saw the blue pallor on his teacher's face, the fedora knocked off.

"Oh my God, Reborn! Breath! U-um!" The brunet flailed around, trying to find something to revive his teacher with. Then he was hit with inspiration, a light bulb going off on top of his head:

"I know! CPR!"

Ryohei watched incredulously as his adopted little brother leaned down to give the baby teacher the kiss of life, wondering if he should stop his little brother before he committed child sex abuse.

Leon was standing on his master's stomach and had a close up view of his master's apprentice leaning down to breathe life back into his master. He blinked his yellow eyes, tongue flicking out.

Tsuna had just brushed his lips against that of his tutor's when something hit his forehead. Hard. Sending him careening back and into the concrete floor.

Ryohei shielded his face from the flying debris that got created when Sawada's head collided with the floor. When the smoke finally settled down, the boxer could only gape at the supposedly unconscious baby, a snot bubble expanding out of the baby hitman's nose as he slept peacefully on his student's face.

The hitman's feet were still resting on the unconscious brunet's forehead.

* * *

**In which the twins declare their (brotherly) love.**

Nana could only sigh, her hand on her cheek, as she looked down at her two five year old sons. Her blond son was glaring at his father with his arms wrapped around her brunet son. She would have been squealing about how adorable the two looked if the situation wasn't so tense.

Iemitsu looked at his two sons pleadingly. "Giotto, you'll be growing into a big boy soon. All big boy's have their own room. Why wouldn't you want your own room?"

"I'm staying with Tsu-kun!" Yelled the blond boy, clinging harder to his twin as he pouted and stomped his foot in anger. He sent his most angry glare at this man who claimed to be their father. He never even remembered meeting this man before and this stranger certainly had no right to demand that he get a separate room from his twin.

Iemitsu sighed and turned to his other cute son, his little Tuna fish. "Tsuna, don't you want your own room? You'll be a big boy that way."

The little brunet stared fearfully at this big scary man and started tearing up. If that was what it meant to be a big boy, then he didn't want it! He wanted to stay with his brother! Tsuna shook his head, his brown fluffy hair swishing with the motion before the little brunet hugged his twin back and buried his teary face into Giotto's shoulder.

At this point Nana couldn't take it anymore and started cooing. "Aww, Tsu-kun and Gio-kun just want to stay together! I'm sure it's fine to leave their room as it is Honey, they are only five."

And Nana was never going to mention her guilty pleasure of taking photos of her sons as they slept together. The very image of her two fluffy twins clinging to each other in their sleep was enough to send her blushing and into a squealing spree.

Iemitsu looked slightly disturbed at he watched his darling wife fantasise about something he would rather not know about. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he looked toward where his cute sons were, only to find them already gone.

G27G27G27

Back in their shared room, Giotto shushed his twin and vowed to hit the man later for making Tsuna cry.

The brunet wiped his tears away and smiled tearily at Giotto, and the blond child swore he saw little flowers appearing in the background.

"We'll always be together, right Gio-kun? That man won't separate us, will he?" the brunet asked as reached out for his brother's face and placed his small hands on the chubby cheeks, so similar to his own.

Giotto grinned reassuringly, "Yeah, that man can't separate us! If he does, we will-! We will um..." The blond child's brow furrowed as he tried to remember the word from that TV show he once saw... "Elope!" He smiled toothily and reached out to place his hands on Tsuna's chubby cheeks, copying his twin.

Tsuna's head tilted in his brother's hands. "...elope? What's that?"

The brunet could feel his twin's grin as Giotto replied. "It's where we run off together to get married!"

The brunet blinked his large honey-brown orbs and his lips parted in an 'oh' before grinning the same smile as his twin and tackling him in a hug. "I love you, Gio-kun!"

The twins, in all their child-like innocence, knew that getting married meant being tied together forever and ever.

Their mother was a brilliant teacher.

* * *

**In which the animals fight.**

Tsuna was lying on the back porch of the Arcobaleno Casa, it was odd the remodelled apartment had one, but he supposed the whole apartment was strange.

The brunet was curled up around Natsu, his hand mid-stroke on his pet's fur, his eyes closed and his breathing even. Completely asleep and oblivious to the world.

Natsu himself was snuggling against his master's hand enjoying the warmth, when he sensed someone else approaching. He looked up when he felt the errant breeze and the lion cub pouted when he saw Falco land near his master's fur and started preening it.

"Don't just touch my master like that!" The lion growled, to humans it was like he let out a series of 'Gao's.

"Why not? His feathers are so soft! It feels nice running my beak through them." The hawk crowed and went back to preening, only to screech when something green nipped his main feathers.

"Leon?!"

"Don't touch my master's property." The lizard clicked back, yellow eyes blinking piercingly at the bird.

"Who said he's your master's?" Came the soft chitter as a white blur moved to land on Tsuna's arm. Lichi's black beady eyes blinked at both the bird and the lizard. "My master taught him too."

"He is my master's study Subject. Don't touch him recklessly." The crocodile drawled as he crawled out of the bush from where he'd been stalki- _watching_ the brunet.

"Tsuna's not anyone's!" Natsu growled, annoyed.

"Of course not, he's mine!"

The other animals didn't have time to react as long tentacles tangled around the brunet and the octopus took him. Tsuna remained asleep.

Keiman, who was closest, snapped his jaws around a tentacle and growled. "He's mine, don't touch him!"

At the same time Leon and Lichi, who had also been taken, started shooting and using martial arts moves on Oodako respectively, both claiming the brunet as theirs.

Falco flew at the octopus' head and scratched and clawed at the marine animal, screeching about letting his 'mate' go.

Natsu stared on from his position on the porch. "What happened to claiming him for your masters?! Why are you claiming him as yours?!"

**"He's. Mine."** All animals besides Natsu stated. Then they all glared at each other menacingly.

The lion cub watched, horrified, as everyone went back to fighting. Tsuna being exchanged from animal to animal like a ball in a game of hot potato as they fought for him. Amazingly, he never woke up nor gained any injuries. Although Natsu could concur that his master slept like a log, literally.

The lion cub could feel a tic developing on his furred brow as the garden became more and more desecrated. When he saw a flying tree trunk narrowly miss Tsuna's head, he roared "Tsuna's _my_ master!" and jumped into the fray.

272727

"Jeez, it sounds like a zoo out there... Just what is my Dame-student doing?" Reborn was sitting in the lounge room, looking over his student's report as he sipped on his espresso.

"I thought he wanted to take a nap?" Fon smiled genially as he sipped on his tea. "I wonder where Lichi got to...?"

"Probably went picking fruits or something, kora. I think Falco's in heat or something, he keeps disappearing somewhere." Colonnello said from his position on the couch opposite Reborn, he was also reading a copy of the reports.

"It's the wrong season for birds to breed. Although there have been cases of out of season coupling." Verde mused from his side of the room. "It appears Keiman is in a similar situation, he disappears for long periods of time. Although I know of no Crocodylidae species near us."

The other Arcobaleno decided to ignore the cacophony of animal noises coming from the back yard... It was probably just some animals from the forest fighting.

272727

Tsuna lay prone in the middle of destruction, peacefully oblivious as he continued to dream and cuddle the marble cherub that somehow ended up in his arms. The animals were scattered around and panting from exertion.

"Looks like it's a tie this time." Clicked Leon from his slumped position over what used to be an old fountain and was now just broken porcelain.

"Truce?" Falco panted, "I don't think I can go on anymore and my master needs me on his missions."

The other animals all grumbled in agreement.

It looked like Tsuna would remain unclaimed. At least, until someone came and incited another fight.

* * *

**A/N:** If only I could study as much as I write. ;w; Next Chapter will be up after Wednesday!


	10. Chapter 8

Hitmen in Crisis 8

**A/N:** I'm in the middle of cramming at the moment but I thought I should post this up like I promised, amuse me with your reveiws! XD

Also, I don't know how many of you are waiting for the action, but it's going to take awhile.

**Warnings:** cussing, OOCness, violence, some angst, alcohol usage.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own KHR

* * *

Reborn's Room, Arcobaleno Casa

Tsuna sneezed. Then rubbed his nose and sniffled, blinking back the tears that had appeared.

"This is what happens when you play too much, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunet turned to look at his teacher and smile. Shifting slightly as his mentor's hands ran up his bare sides and suppressing the urge to laugh at the sensitive area was touched.

Reborn ran his glowing yellow palms up the brunet's back, trying to ease the bruising there. He huffed as he pressed on one that had not been there before, making Tsuna release a soft pained sound from the back of his throat.

"I don't know why I bother if you're just going to get more bruises."

Despite his words, the hitman continued heal as the brunet made a protesting sound. That sound quickly turned into a breathy moan as Reborn pressed his hands against the brunet's shoulders, garnering a raised brow from the hitman.

"You're not getting a massage here, Tsuna."

The brunet just turned and gave the hitman a grin. Reborn glared into the cheeky face and bopped the fluffy head, pleased when he got a soft whine from the brunet.

"You are just a silly brat who can't even take care of himself properly, you don't need a massage."

Tsuna turned back to write a retort, this time not bothered to turn his head as he lifted the notepad so the hitman could see it.

_'I can take care of myself! How else have I survived when you weren't around?'_

"Obviously by some absurd miracle, Elena was just telling me about how you never seem to want to eat anything but sweets."

The brunet huffed and pouted, relaxing into the soft velvety bed cover. He shuddered as the large warm hands traced up his spine, wincing as the yellow flames ran over the bruises from when he'd been smashed into the table. He shifted uncomfortably when the hands shifted downward, skipping over his arse and onto his legs instead. He didn't even know how he got his legs scratched up and bruised during the fight, but the pain barely bothered him compared to the broken bones and his throbbing shoulder.

Reborn had healed him before, but it seemed so much more different now that the hitman was an adult. The hands that were previously small and soft, as an infant's should be, were so much larger and rougher, and yet, just as gentle.

After Tsuna had taken a proper shower as opposed to the soaking from before, Reborn had demanded to take a look at his wounds and heal them properly. So the two had retreated into what Tsuna realised was Reborn's old room.

"Ah...mmph!" Tsuna buried his face into the covers to muffle the laugh that threatened to erupt as Reborn's hands moved his feet. The brunet's legs twitched, trying not to move; he was sure Reborn would shoot him if he accidentally kicked the hitman.

The raven haired man traced a scratch on the brunet's ankle, letting the skin seal and the wound to disappear under his flame's influence. Then he ran his hands up the brunet's calves, healing the bruising and scratches there in one go. He hadn't bothered with the small wounds before as the shoulder needed the most attention, not to mention the brunet had been overly exhausted at the time and most of his natural body functions had shut down to recuperate. Now that he had time, and the brunet had regained his energy (too much in Reborn's opinion), he could work on them.

"Ahnn..."

The hitman twitched as his student released a rather suggestive moan, tightening his grip on the back of the brunet's knees. It wasn't a problem before when he was a baby but now that his hands were big and able to apply the amount of pressure required for what would amount to a massage, he was quickly discovering that the teen was quite... vocal. 'And he can't even speak.'

Tsuna flushed as he felt Reborn trace a scrape on the back of his knee, the area stinging and tingling up his spine at the same time. He gasped when Reborn pressed on the area and felt his toes curl as his fingers dug into the covers, biting his lip from releasing anymore sounds. He was now wondering why he couldn't be completely mute; it would make this much less embarrassing.

The brunet whined when Reborn ran his fingertips across the small scab on the back of the other knee, the hitman turned his head up to see a pink flush spread across the brunet's bare back. Quirking a brow, he experimentally ran his nails across the back of the knee; scratching them lightly. The reaction was instantaneous; the pink flush spreading on the brunet's body darkened and a loud moan was muffled into the covers as the brunet writhed.

Reborn leaned over and reached for the brunet's head, tugging it up the see the deep red blush spread across Tsuna's face. The teen glared indignantly at his teacher even as his blush darkened, he knew that the last touch against the back of his knees was definitely _not_ a healing one.

"I didn't know the back of your knees were an erogenous zone, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunet covered his eyes with his free hand and mouthed, _'I didn't know either. Now stop touching them!'_

The hitman chuckled; he could admit that his student was quite cute, blushing and acting shy like this. He shook his head slightly before the thought developed into something more absurd and released the fluffy head in his grip, turning the brunet's body so that Tsuna was lying on his back.

The brunet lowered his arm as he felt his blush recede and his body calm down, peering at Reborn curiously.

"I've done most of your back."

The brunet nodded to show he understood and Reborn placed his palms against the brunet's previously bandaged front where he knew the two fractured ribs were located. Tsuna winced as he felt the pressure and sighed as Reborn's flames flared and left a stinging, tingling sensation like an itch that could not be scratched. The feeling sunk under his skin and into his body and washed over the throbbing pain over that area.

After a few moments, Reborn stopped his flames. "It's mostly healed now, but don't apply any strong pressure there" He smirked and the brunet looked back warily. "If you break them again, I'll tie you to a bed for the duration it takes to fully heal them, _naturally_."

Tsuna gulped and nodded as Reborn moved back to heal the rest. The brunet's chest had taken a range of blows that the hitman could identify as from a blade and some sort of pole-arm. This, of course, corresponded to the bladed cane that he saw Checkerface (the brunet had told them what he called himself) wield.

The raven drifted his fingers over the three round pale scars that remained on the brunet's abdomen, pausing there for a moment. The three scars were a product of a mission gone wrong and the brunet's first kill, there was a copy of the scars on the brunet's back from where the bullets had gone clean through. The hitman had been lucky that the teen had not lost his life to the sniper. The hitman also partially blamed himself for this particular wound long-gone, the scar remaining as a reminder of his own mistake.

Tsuna blinked when he noticed Reborn had stopped moving, looking down to see his teacher staring at the spot where his hand had paused. The brunet instantly recognised the old scar and reached down to press that, still foreign, large hand on the blemish, covering it.

When Reborn looked up, Tsuna's expression was hidden by his bangs, but his lips moved. _'When...I was kidnapped...I was trapped in an illusion at first, before I encountered Checkerface... It was... Pretty bad. The last illusion I lived through was... This.'_ The brunet tightened his grip over the markings; pressing the hitman's hand in with more force.

Tsuna wasn't sure if this would be a good thing to tell Reborn, but he felt that he should, and he trusted his teacher. The events that he had shoved into the back of his mind were starting to emerge once again and he knew that talking, no matter how silent, would help lift the stress off his shoulders. Besides, there was something, something he had to say.

Reborn tensed as he watched the brunet's lips intently, he knew how traumatic that particular event had been, he'd been the one to pick up the pieces in the aftermath after all. The raven continued to watch the brunet's lips move, trying to read them accurately even as the brunet kept pausing, seemingly hesitant on what he wanted to say.

_'It was worse this time though... Because the one I killed had been... You._' Reborn frowned, wondering what the teen meant but returned his attention when he felt the brunet take a shuddering breath.

_'I know, I knew it was an illusion b-but I still fell for it. It was so realistic, so much like that time again…I thought- I thought that I really had killed you._ The brunet bit his lip. _'I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being such a bad student and putting all that training to waste. For being weak and ending up with that-'_ Tsuna gestured to the bedside table where the orange pacifier sat innocently. _'Forced on me._' The brunet released the hitman's hand and pressed the heel of his palm against one eye, trying to stop the stinging as tears trailed out. He felt himself hiccup and gasp as he choked on the pain and the anguish welling inside him.

Reborn watched as his student tried to suppress the tears, the usual pale skin turning blotchy red. He now understood why the teen had reacted so fearfully the night before. The hitman reached to the side and grabbed a tissue, bring it up to press against the brunet's running nose as the brunet gasped, the hot wetness still trailing down his cheeks even as the teen rubbed at his eyes furiously.

The actions and consequences had finally caught up and now the brunet was breaking down in front of the hitman, but Reborn was not going to ridicule the teen. He could easily see how hard the brunet was trying to suppress his cries; besides the gasps and hiccups the brunet did not sob nor wail. No real sound escaped those lips.

"Dame-Tsuna, if you feel weak; then train. If you know you lost it; then strengthen your mind so it doesn't happen again. If you regret; then fix it with your dying will."

Tsuna's lips twitched up at the typical line from his teacher. He would have asked how, but he knew what the reply would be, he had known all along. He could feel himself flush from embarrassment, he knew that the hitman didn't do wailing, crying children and that was what he felt like now.

"As for whether you're really weak; are you saying that all that training I put you through was pointless?"

The brunet stilled, then shook his head reluctantly, his bangs still hiding his eyes. The training wasn't pointless; Tsuna doubted he'd even be alive now without it.

"And was the whole encounter really useless?"

No, it hadn't been. If Tsuna hadn't met Checkerface then the Arcobaleno wouldn't have their bodies back. The brunet would never have seen what the Arcobaleno really were like without the child-like bodies hampering them. He would never have managed nor had the chance to form close bonds with them. And he certainly wouldn't have been able to see and touch his teacher in his natural form.

"Do you regret it?"

This time the question was asked quietly and the brunet was filled with a sense of déjà vu as he recalled being asked this again and again after killing someone, after doing something normal society would frown upon. The response formed on his lips automatically, just as it had the last times he'd been asked this. Because he knew, in the long run, that it was true.

_'No.'_

Reborn felt his lips quirk up as he reached out to ruffle the brown locks.

The brunet lifted his head to reveal clear honey brown eyes red and puffy from being rubbed raw. The tears had stopped but left the brunet's eyes stinging and dry.

Pressing another tissue to the brunet's runny nose, the hitman grumbled "You are such a kid sometimes."

The teen frowned back, indignant. Then grabbed the tissue with his free hand and turned his head away, wiping a sleeve over his wet cheeks.

_'I'm sorry.'_

Reborn caught the mouthed words even though the teen was glaring at the wall and reached out to ruffle those locks again. It was strange that even though he wasn't a baby anymore and could not use that fluffy head as a seat he still had the weird urge to run his fingers through the soft locks and touch them.

"It's okay to cry when you need to."

Tsuna's eyes widened, 'did Reborn just say that?!' The strong, unyielding hitman had just given him permission to cry?

"As long as it's a man's tears its fine."

The brunet turned back and frowned at the older male. _'What's that supposed to mean?!'_

"It means that you should become manlier, you are much too girly at the moment."

_'How am I girly?!'_ exclaimed the brunet as he grabbed the nearest weapon: his gun.

Several gunshots and explosions could be heard from the seventh floor of the Arcobaleno Casa.

"Ahhh! Reborn-sempai is killing Tsuna!"

"Ah-! Skull! There's no need to panic, I'm sure Tsuna's fine."

"Just what the hell are those two doing?!"

"Ahaha, that kid's full of energy, kora!"

* * *

Mächton Familie base, Frankfurt Germany

"You dummkopfs! You're late!"

"VOIII! Don't fucking blame us, you bastard!"

Squalo, Mammon, Bel and several members of the Mächton Family were standing in a torn up, previously posh, building.

The Mächton boss downed another glass of beer and slammed it onto one of the few remaining tables in the large room.

"Get me more another Pilsener!" His voice was a deep baritone that reverberated easily among the debris.

"Yessir!" and another man scurried out before their boss could throw the table or something more hazardous at them.

"This boss would get along well with ours, I think." Viper muttered as she walked to the side with Belphegor.

"Ushishishi~ these peasants don't deserve to be in the prince's presence." Bel grinned his glasgow grin at one of the men standing around, who instantly backed away from the blond.

Markus Mächton was a heavy set man with an array of battle scars that decorated his toned body, hidden by his immaculate suit. He liked to wield a heavy spiked war hammer and was known as a violent unforgiving man in the world of organised crime. His Family specialised in weapons; making them and selling them. And they were feared for their 'creative' torture methods when it came to their enemies.

The Mächton boss turned his angry glower on the silver haired assassin in front of him, keeping a sharp eye on the other two foreign members. He had to admit that it was remarkable that the man did not cower like so many others who encountered him. But the Boss of the Mächton Familie had heard of the Varia boss's reputation and supposed that it was to be expected.

"Tch. You didn't even need to come, we dealt with everything just fine."

"Voi! What?! You say that after we saved your sorry arse from the enemy?!"

Viper sighed as the two delved into a deafening shouting match, wondering if she should invest in a pair of earplugs, preferably the cheapest ones out there that would still do a good job at blocking out the noise.

Even though they'd manage to arrive in time to see the enemy, the enemy had disappeared before they could fight him, or whoever it was. The person had worn a drama mask with the classical sad face along with an ambiguous black cloak, now Viper knew what it felt like to see a person and not know what gender they were or anything about them.

Whoever is was managed to thrash the Mächton base single-handedly and kill several of the men. The enemy had been leading the Varia on a wild goose chase to various different Famiglia who were allied to Vongola and the illusionist had a feeling that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. She was already exhausted and she had only started this chase a few days ago, her thoughtography didn't help much; if she was lucky it would show the area the enemy was in but the majority of the time nothing came up. The good thing was that she was getting paid well.

She stepped to the side to avoid a beer bottle, letting it crash against the wall and scowled. "Why did the Mächton ally themselves with the Vongola again? I thought they were one of those permanently neutral types."

"Perhaps due to a boon we owe someone."

The illusionist looked to the side to where a slender blond man in a crisp suit stood smiling amiably. The man bowed to her. "Florian, Markus' right-hand man."

The illusionist blinked, that was a strange match up if she ever saw one. This man acted and seemed like a gentleman, yet Markus was like a violent buffoon. But then again, she wasn't about to judge people; there were many masks people hid under in their world after all.

"Who do you owe?"

"Cælum."

Viper raised an unseen brow.

"Ushishishishi~ that peasant is rumoured to be the number one hitman's apprentice, isn't he?"

"And I know Reborn doesn't have an apprentice, he's only taught the Cavallone boss and the Vongola Decimo." Viper replied.

"You know Reborn?"

The illusionist twitched, resisting the urge to use her illusions. She didn't expect the Mächton boss to be able to hear over his own yelling and that of Squalo's.

Markus walked up to them, hammer resting innocuously against his shoulder, kicking debris away and not seemingly at all inebriated from the dozens of crates of beer he had consumed. The man's jaw tightened as he examined the illusionist.

Viper resisted the urge to back away; this man wore his killing intent like a cloak. No wonder most of his subordinates didn't dare get within ten feet of the man. She glanced at Florian who just smiled amiably, not at all affected. 'Should have known he was a weird one.'

She jumped when Markus started laughing, a deep throated bellow that echoed. "Ahahaha, I see! You're the mist Arcobaleno! I thought the Arcobaleno were babies?"

The illusionist shrugged. She had no idea why she was in this form and she would much rather be at the Arcobaleno meeting than here. Dealing with people allied to the Vongola was not part of her job description. Viper couldn't wait to hear about why she was back in her adult form.

"VOIII! Don't ignore me!"

Markus swung his war hammer at the silver-haired man with a vicious grin, which Squalo returned as he dodged it.

Viper shook her head as the two started fighting, physically this time, 'Fight oriented idiots', at least she wouldn't be paying for any of the damages. The illusionist could see Bel approaching some of the subordinates who were fixing the wall with Florian trailing him, probably to make sure the blond didn't cause too much trouble. The illusionist looked down when she heard a croak, slipping Fantasma out and nodded to show she understood his message.

Viper looked up when she heard a crash, watching the wall is it imploded and a pitch black raven flew in. The men yelled and took out their guns while Squalo and Markus stopped fighting to stare at the bird in annoyance. The raven evaded the erratic shots easily and flew over Viper, letting go of the scroll in its claws, before flying to the other side of the cavernous room and making that wall explode too.

Viper caught the scroll, grumbling about the repair costs she was going to charge... the illusionist looked at the rainbow 'C' on the side... Colonnello.

"VOI! What the fuck, Mammon?!"

"Hey, we just fixed those walls!"

Viper didn't say anything as she faded away into mist.

* * *

Arcobaleno Casa, Milan Italy

Tsuna groaned, feeling his upper body swing around and belatedly realising he was upside down with something gripping his hips in place. He blinked open his eyes, trying to shake off the tendrils of sleep on his mind, and stared blearily at the black thing in front of him. His body swung again and his limp arms above his head smacked against something... soft? The brunet frowned and reached out with his hand, patting the soft thing, he squeezed and noted that it was firm too.

"I'm flattered that you like my arse, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunet blinked, 'What?' He turned his head away from the black thing in front of his face and to the side, catching his reflection on the darkened window. That's when he realised that he was slung over Reborn's shoulder and that the older man was walking down the stairs. He turned his head up and yelped when he noticed his hand on his teacher's-! Is that what he'd been touching?! He quickly removed his hand as he felt his face redden.

Reborn chuckled. "Didn't think I'd ever be sexually harassed by my apprentice."

Tsuna made a choked sound and shook his head; he wanted to say that he didn't know and that he'd been asleep! But his teacher couldn't see his face. The brunet flailed around, noting that he'd been dressed in an oversized white shirt that had ridden up and that whatever pants he was wearing now was hanging off his hips. He tried pushing himself off Reborn's shoulder; he could walk fine now, could he not?

The hitman huffed as he felt his student wiggle around. He gripped the brunet tighter and swung the teen down. It was still a strange concept that he could now carry the brunet. Reborn smirked when he noticed the receding blush on the brunet's cheeks as the teen tugged the shirt back down.

The shirt hung past Tsuna's hips, the collar too big and sliding off a shoulder, the sleeves engulfing his hands. Unlike the previous black shirt that had been short sleeved. The black pants trailed past the brunet's feet and he almost stumbled on the things, scowling downward as if it were the pants fault.

"It's your fault you are so short, Dame-Tsuna." Now Reborn could get some satisfaction teasing his student. The brunet was a head shorter than his adult form after all.

Tsuna glared at his mentor and 'humph'ed, turning to walk down the rest of the stairs without Reborn's 'help', only to stumble on the too-long pants and start another fast descent down the stairs. The brunet scowled to himself even as he yelped; he hadn't fallen down stairs in a long time and for some strange phenomenon he seemed to keep falling down the ones in the Arcobaleno Casa.

The teen tumbled around erratically, wincing at the new set of bruises he was sure to get and prepared himself for the impact with the wooden flooring. There was an 'oof' as he rolled into something softer than the ground and stopped. Tsuna groaned as he held his spinning head for a moment before pushing himself up and coming face to face with the irate face of a blue haired female.

"Why the hell do keep falling down the stairs, brat?!"

The teen got up hastily and bowed in apology, wondering if he should resort to using Hayato's sliding dogeza as he felt the dark aura seeping from the woman in front of him. He also felt like shooting Reborn again when he heard his teacher snicker from behind.

Lal growled and turned her attention from the clumsy kid toward Reborn. "You should have stopped him!"

"And miss seeing the two of you tumble into each other?"

As Lal was about to bark back a retort when she felt something touch her cheek. The bluenette snapped her head around to glower at the teen who blushed and pulled his hand away.

"What are you doing?!"

The brunet gestured toward his own right cheek, tracing his finger in a zigzag shape on his skin as he stared into the ex-military woman's eyes.

Lal blinked, her anger turning into annoyance as she understood. The teen was tracing the area where her scar was.

"What about it, brat?"

Tsuna smiled and tugged the collar of his shirt further down so that the scar on his shoulder could be seen. Reborn had managed to finish off the healing after immobilising Tsuna, the cast on his forearm would stay on, but the rest were healed and the hole on his shoulder had been closed up. All that remained was a thick pink scar that was slightly indented and rough due to the overly fast healing. The area itched like crazy too but Reborn had mentioned it being a product of the healing that would eventually disappear.

Lal quirked a brow curiously and reached out to touch the scar just under the brunet's shoulder blade. She had seen bad wounds and their aftermath before but she rarely touched them and her own one didn't bother her much. The skin was rough and warm but soft too. Turning the teen around, she could see another imprint of the scar on the teen's back.

"You will need to move your shoulder regularly and massage the area or it'll harden and reduce mobility." She said.

Tsuna blinked and nodded in compliance, then brushed his fingers against Lal's cheek again. Her scar felt different to his, it was smooth and pinkish brown in colour with darker skin outlining it, nothing at all like his new one.

The blunette shifted as she watched the teen before her, she could feel the fingers on her scar that left a tingling sensation. It was odd she would allow anyone close enough to touch her like this, but the kid seemed to emit a calming aura that placated her usual response to slap people away. Seeing the teen's curious expression, she couldn't help but let her lips quirk up. "I got mine from a different type of injury, yours was a like a stab wound, mine was from a burn."

Tsuna made an 'oh...' with his mouth. That made sense.

There was a cough from the side, catching the two's attention, and they turned to see Reborn looking at them expressionlessly. "As much as it is interesting to see you two compare injuries, I think we should get to dinner." The hitman smirked. "My idiot student already skipped lunch since he fell asleep while writing the report."

Tsuna pouted and folded his arms, looking to the side. It was _not_ his fault he fell asleep, Reborn wouldn't give him cake.

"So the brat's actually human. I was thinking his energy was endless." Lal was smirking in amusement, the teen looked even more childish now and the borrowed clothes weren't helping.

"It is, when he gets a large dose of sweets. But he becomes more annoying than Luce fangirling about her dramas."

The bluenette shuddered and sent a grave look toward the hitman. No, they would not be giving the brunet sweets.

"Hey, what are you three doing standing around?" Colonnello walked down the stairs behind them. "Hey kid, you look even tinier in those clothes. Are they Reborn's?"

The brunet grunted indignantly at the insult but nodded nonetheless. Peering down at his hands that were covered by the long sleeves (he hadn't bothered with the sling for his left arm this time) he wiggled his fingers and watched the fabric shift about with his movement.

Colonnello stared at the brunet, noticing the lack of bruises especially that large one on the kid's neck, and turned to grin at Reborn and give him a thumbs up.

The raven scowled back as Lal snorted at the ridiculousness that was her student (ex-student technically, but as long as the blond continued with his idiocy, she would still call him that).

"Great, kora!" The blond stalked forward and grabbed Tsuna, swinging the struggling teen over a shoulder. "Dinner time! I bet Fon ordered something extra chilli, it's been way too long, kora!"

"That's because you couldn't stomach it as an infant." Lal was scowling; she didn't like the amount of chilli she was sure the martial artist had ordered. It made her feel as if she were breathing pure fire.

"And you can't stomach it as an adult." Reborn grinned condescendingly at the blue haired female who growled back.

The hitman was also amused at his student, who looked to have given up trying to get off the blond's shoulder and was now sulking.

* * *

Outside the Mächton Familie base, Frankfurt Germany

**Hey Viper! Or is it Mammon?**

**Anyway, we figured out what was going on with the curse and stuff.**

**Apparently it's still there but been temporarily taken off due to The Man with the Iron Hat's whims (he calls himself Checkerface). And it's all thanks to Reborn's student, so you better thank him! Oh, and he won't charge you or anything like that, so rest assured. He's also our new Sky Arcobaleno, so you'll meet him eventually.**

**Yeah, so keep the fact that Reborn has a student a secret, okay?**

**-The Greatest Sniper**

As her pacifier illuminated the words, Viper stared at the sheet expressionlessly. She was too caught up in thinking of ways to torture to blond ex-COMSUBIN member. Seriously, the blond baby (he was probably an adult as well, but Viper had yet to see for herself) could have been a little more detailed in his explanation. It was leaving the illusionist with more questions than answers.

'Reborn actually has a student? And he's the next Sky Arcobaleno?!' The illusionist was extremely tempted to send a long-range horrific illusion to the blond or even put a hex on him. 'He could have given the student's name!'

Due to Viper's rage, the pacifier's glow grew brighter and the illusionist caught a glimpse of more words near the bottom of the scroll.

**P.S. His name's Tsuna! Y'know, the one who went missing? Don't tell anyone though!**

'What?!'

As Viper gaped uncharacteristically at the scroll, the door smashed open.

"VOIIIIII! You damned baby! Where the fuck did you disappear to?!"

"Ushishishi~ Mammon isn't a baby anymore, stupid peasant."

"Who the fuck cares?! Xanxus ordered us to get to the stupid Tomaso!"

The two intruders stilled when they felt a roiling dark aura of pure killing intent.

"Stop making so much noise, I'm trying to think."

* * *

Reborn's Room, Arcobaleno Casa

Reborn heard the rustling of bed sheets then felt a nudge to his side and turned his head to see Tsuna beside him, blinking blearily.

"What is it Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna opened his mouth, and then closed it. It was too dark for Reborn to read his lips properly. He shifted his hands up and started signing, clumsily due to the arm cast.

_'Not being offensive or anything, but why aren't I in a room of my own? You're an adult now and it feels a bit... strange.'_

"Well, you _could_ take Luce's old room. If you like being surrounded by lace and frills and odd stuffed toys."

The brunet shook his head, horrified. He didn't know that Yuni's grandmother was like that... though the other Arcobaleno dropped quite a few clues about her during dinner.

"And what's so strange about it? We've slept together plenty of times. If I recall correctly, _you_ were the one always clinging to me in your sleep too."

The brunet blushed, not that it could be seen in the dark, and shifted about uncomfortably.

Reborn sensed the brunet's discomfort and huffed. "There's not that much difference between myself now and my infant form."

Tsuna sighed and nodded, of course he knew that. Reborn was still the sadistic Spartan who loved to abuse and tease him mercilessly on a daily basis. But there was still a large difference between the two. He shifted his hand around under the covers until he found the hitman's arm. Tracing down toward the hitman's hand he grabbed it and brought it out. The brunet splayed his fingers against the large hand, comparing the two.

Reborn let the teen do what he wanted and rose a brow, noting how much larger his hand was to the brunet's. As a baby, his hand fit easily into the teen's palm but now it engulfed the brunet's. The hitman looked past their hands to see the pointed look he could make out in the dim light directed his way.

"So there are some physical differences." Reborn shrugged nonchalantly.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, 'that's putting it lightly.' And went back to examining their hands, gripping Reborn's palm, he traced his thumb over the calluses he could feel. He closed his eyes as he shifted his hand up and pressed the tips of those long fingers. The calluses there were sort of squishy under his touch...

Reborn shifted on his side of the bed as he felt his hand being fiddled with. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable (and certainly better than being suffocated by one of the teen's hugs) but it did leave a strange tingling sensation running across his hand. Especially when the teen kept pressing the tips of fingers like that... Reborn blinked.

"What are you doing, Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna laughed softly as he continued to press the raven's finger tips, it reminded him of a cat's paw, and it was addicting... The brunet could feel sleep tugging at his consciousness as he continued to play with Reborn's hand, and on a spur of the moment he tugged the larger hand toward him and pressed his lips gently against the tips as he gave in to sleep.

Reborn's eyes widened as the tingling press of fingers was suddenly replaced by something much softer. He shifted himself up; resting his head against the palm of his other hand, to see better and stared into the sleeping face of the brunet. His fingers were pressed against those soft lips.

'What the...?'

Reborn brushed his fingers around the softness, tracing the content smile that remained on the teen's face and quirked a brow when he felt those lips part slightly, suddenly tempted to slip his fingers in...

The hitman shook his head abruptly and took his hand away, what was he thinking? This was his apprentice! His apprentice was not someone who was supposed to intrude into _that_ particular part of his mind. The part that he was sure had died when he'd been turned into an infant. Now that the hitman was an adult, he supposed the issue would arise again.

Reborn huffed, turning onto his back as he relaxed into his pillow, ignoring the warm sensation that remained on the tips of his fingers.

He needed to get laid before he did something he would regret.

* * *

**A/N: **I had to reign in my inner pervert in that last scene, oh how tempted I was to make Reborn slip his fingers in and Tsuna suck them... ;A; But alas, it is not time yet.

I couldn't resist putting in some German swears from my meagre knowledge of the language, feel free to correct me. A lot of them are quite self explanatory.

Dummkopf - idiots, as I understand it.

Verdammt - damn

Familie - family, I think it would be equivalent to Famiglia in italian.

Pilsener - a type of beer

Cælum - Latin for sky (and a whole bunch of other stuff), you can probably guess who this is.

Also, feel free to join Mockingjay Rose's KHR!Secret Santa! It's on her roleplay forum. You can request a type of fic you want and on Dec 1st, Mockingjay Rose will contact you with the person you have to write for. I've entered, so who knows; it's possible I might end up writing your request. :D It's something fun if any writers out there feel like checking it out! (I've posted the link on my profile, I think.)

**R&R!**


	11. Chapter 9

Hitmen in Crisis 9

**A/N:** I'm sorry for not replying to your reviews this time round! I'm not the only one with exams at this time, right? Right? TAT I'm very grateful for the reviews, favourites and follows, thank you all so much! *bows* (And I'll definitely reply to the next bunch! *does fist pump while eyes start flaming*)

I'm just happy I can keep up with about one update a week at this point. Oh, how I would love it if essays were as easy to write as stories.

**Questions/Answers**

PokerPair: When will Tsuna be returning to Namimori? For now that isn't in my plans yet, meaning it's going to take a while. And thanks for the review!  
When will Viper appear? Awhile, I'm not sure how much I can reveal without giving away the plot.  
When will Giotto, his Guardians and Tsuna's 'Guardians' appear? You'll see some this chapter and maybe some next chapter depending on if I can fit them in.  
When will they meet Tsuna? Also going to take some time.  
Bermuda and Vindice? For now, they have no real incentive to approach Tsuna. So not yet.  
Why is it taking so long? It's slow now, but the pace will pick up. Meaning; enjoy this fluffy interaction for long as you can because it certainly isn't going to last! Plus, KHR has so many characters and I don't want them to appear all at once.  
R27? All27? I'm pretty sure I stuck in enough incentive for R27. As for all27 I've also written quite a bit in but there will be more.  
Smut? Lol, no way yet. I'll be keeping a tight reign on my inner pervert at the moment. (If you think that's torture for you, think about the one writing it.)

_'Tsuna mouthing stuff.'_

_'Tsuna writing stuff.'_

* * *

Reborn shifted around and grasped the warmth in his arms tighter, the soft scent of vanilla and strawberries tickled nose as he buried his face into the fluffiness. The hitman could feel a fond scowl overtake his features as he felt that vice-like grip around his waist. There was only one person he ever allowed this close when he slept.

Although it was strange that he could grasp the warmth... normally he would wake with his apprentice's arms wound tightly around him, the teen's body curled around his much smaller one and the teen's face buried in his hair as if he were his student's favourite stuffed toy.

Reborn squinted his eyes open against the rising sunlight filtering in through the curtains and peered down to find his student's fluffy hair tickling his nose, he blinked. Ah, that's right; he had been turned back into an adult.

Grasping the back of the brunet's borrowed shirt, the hitman tried to forcibly pull the teen off of him, to no avail. The only thing that purpose served was giving the hitman a good view of bare creamy shoulders and the top of a smooth toned back. Reborn scowled to himself as he felt the stirrings of _that_ pooling at the base of his stomach.

Although he accused the brunet of being too girly (which was true) the teen was still clearly a guy, especially after all that training that had toned the lithe body. But, for Reborn, gender never bothered him when choosing who to fool around with. In the past, before he'd been turned into a baby, he lived on the thrill of killing, sex and alcohol. He never really gave a damn about anything else, men and women alike always seemed to want him, so he had no issues in getting laid either.

The hitman had had multiple partners, the majority of those were one night stands and he rarely went back for more. He never gave his personal details to anyone either, he was a hitman after all.

Reborn never really expected his apprentice of all people to incite this feeling in him, as a baby he had given up ever indulging in such activities and the unexpected return to his adult form seemed to have given his libido back. It was most likely the return of those hormonal urges that had him feeling this way, not his student, it couldn't be his student...which was why he needed to get out and find someone before frustration built up. He wasn't worried about molesting the teen or anything, he had more control than that, he was more worried about what would happen if he held off for too long.

Huffing into the teen's hair he shifted about annoyed; god even the brunet's scent was getting to him. Pulling the covers off of them, he sat up and sighed as the brunet continued to cling to him like a koala; arms wrapping around his neck, legs around his hips. Reborn looked at the foot of his bed where Leon was standing on Natsu's head, and quirked a brow, the two animals seemed to be staring as him rather unnervingly. He shrugged; maybe they were having the same issues as the others' pets.

Reborn stood up and growled when Tsuna didn't let go. The brunet's extra weight didn't bother him, but the brunet had tightened his grip around the raven's waist when the raven stood, and the hitman could feel that pressure against him, squeezing him.

Reborn contemplated the torture methods he could use to get the teen off him. Both Giotto and Tsuna slept like logs and he always had the pleasure of waking them. But there was one issue; as a baby, slipping out of Tsuna's grasp had been easy with his small body but now that he was an adult... Reborn scowled.

* * *

*knock knock*

A bright-eyed Fon had just finished dressing for the day when there was a knock at his door. He tilted his head in curiosity, wondering who it was that was up at this time. Going to his door he opened it and peered out, feeling his eyes widen as he caught sight of who was there.

Reborn stood in front of Fon's door with a Tsuna clinging to him, asleep and snuggling into the hitman. The raven haired man was also holding two crowbars. One; a shape-shifted Leon. The other; a plain metal.

"Help me pry him off."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

A sleepy-eyed brunet mumbled incoherently as he trailed after his Sensei, gripping the back of Fon's robe so that he wouldn't wonder off.

Tsuna felt his sore arm, legs and head throb, wondering where the bruises on his arm and legs came from and why Reborn had to wake him up with a Leon-hammer (though he was glad it wasn't something worse). He was somewhat thankful that the cast on his left arm had protected it from whatever had happened.

Tsuna was aware that he slept like the dead. In fact, Reborn had put him under a lot of tortur- training, to get him to wake up easily. The fruits of that training were apparent in that he did wake up instantly if anyone were to approach him with ill intent. And therein lies the issue; he somehow (impossibly) got so comfortable around Reborn that he always slept like a log around the baby (adult now, he supposed) and that meant he couldn't avoid whatever wakeup call the baby-turned-adult came up with.

But, despite the morning torture, the brunet was still asleep on his feet. As Fon discovered when he stopped moving and felt the teen bump into him with a soft 'mmph'. The martial artist was about to turn around and confront the teen, when the brunet's arms wrapped around his waist and he felt Tsuna rub his cheek against his back.

Fon blinked for a moment, feeling strange as he'd never been embraced like this in his adult form before. He chuckled when he felt Tsuna purr against his back, feeling the sound vibrate against his body. The martial artist tugged on the brunet's arms and huffed, as strangely comfortable as it was to be held like this, he knew that he needed to get the teen off. It was quite probable that as soon as Tsuna woke up properly, the grip around his waist could turn into something suffocating. Yes, unfortunately, the martial artist had been on the end of Tsuna's vicious hugs before.

"Tsuna, let go."

The teen grumbled and tightened his grip, Fon's robe was soft and silky and warm and he didn't want to let go of his impromptu pillow.

"If you do, I promise to treat you to whatever dessert you want later."

Tsuna's ears perked up at that and in the next instant the teen's arms were gone and Fon turned to find Tsuna wide awake and beaming at him expectantly, almost jumping on the spot. The martial artist smiled into his sleeve and ruffled the brunet's fluffy hair, 'he really is too cute'.

"Just don't tell Reborn, okay?"

Tsuna nodded enthusiastically, finally taking note of his surroundings and felt his jaw fall open. The two were standing in a dojo-styled room, the room was large and spacious with a row of mirrors on one side and a bar that ran at waist height and large open windows on the opposite side, designed to look like open shoji doors. On the wall opposite where they were standing were rows upon rows of weapons; swords, staffs, chains, blades and many more that the brunet could barely recognise.

"Welcome to my personal dojo."

Fon chuckled as the brunet turned wide honey brown eyes toward him. "It's actually my old dojo, but I thought I may as well take out all those old weapons again and give them a good clean."

Tsuna stared at his Sensei in awe for a moment before grasping his sensei's hand and tugging him toward the weapons. The brunet wanted Fon to explain what some of them were.

Fon sighed, and then gripped the brunet's hand, watching his student turn back to him with a smile. "We can examine those later, why don't we start what I took you here to do?"

Tsuna tilted his head curiously, wondering what Fon was on about, he then caught the glint in his Sensei's eyes and finally noted his surroundings and what dangerous weapons normally implied, Tsuna gulped.

The martial artist's usually serene smile turned devious when he noticed the brunet's discomfort, and he shifted into an attack stance.

"Let's see how rusty you have gotten since last time."

_'What about my broken arm?!'_

"I'll go easy on you, Tsuna. Don't worry."

* * *

Streets of Milan, Italy

Tsuna shifted his shoulders, trying to relieve the muscle pain there. 'So much for going easy one me, Fon-sensei!' The brunet huffed, despite the martial artist's calm nature; Fon was strict and harsh in his training regime. But Tsuna couldn't help his fond smile, he had enjoyed the work-out; getting to move into familiar forms and stances against someone he knew he would never have to hold back on, to allow his limbs to react automatically rather than over thinking, it was almost meditative. Truthfully, sometimes when he needed a calm moment but couldn't sit still and meditate, he resorted to repeating katas* instead; the ones he learnt from Fon all those years ago.

The brunet rubbed his left arm absentmindedly, the cast was gone as Reborn had finished the healing. Only a few bandages remained to keep his arm stable as his body took in the rapid healing.

"Brat! Don't dawdle behind with your head in the clouds! Keep up!"

Tsuna jerked his head up to look for the now-familiar blue hair among the pedestrians and found it easily. Slinking past the people and toward where he could see Lal and Skull, without his helmet, waiting for him, he couldn't help but look at his surroundings and the Old Italian buildings and shop fronts. He knew this place, but that's to be expected as Milan is a large city and Reborn had taken him here several times, but this street was strangely familiar...

"Kid!" Tsuna flinched as a fist landed on his head and started rubbing into his scalp. "Can't you keep up here? We don't need you gaping at everything like a tourist!"

_"I'm not!"_ The brunet wailed out silently, clutching at his head. _"I was just thinking..."_

"Then think at the appropriate time. I thought Reborn would have trained you to stay on guard." The ex-COMSUBIN captain folded her arms and glowered at the teen in front of her.

_"Hey! Reborn did train me! And I can think and stay on guard at the same time, can't I?!"_

The brunet barely registered the pitying stares from passers-by; too busy glaring indignantly at the ex-COMSUBIN captain. Lal, for some strange reason, felt relieved that the teen didn't notice. People had a tendency to assume things about others from first glance, no doubt people thought he had some strange condition or was just dumb or something. She scoffed and sent a glare at the starers, smirking when they paled and looked away; humanity could be so blind sometimes.

At least Lal had the pleasure of torturing the teen, and she grinned as she gave the teen a good hard noogie. "Who do you think you are, talking back to me, brat!"

"L-Lal! Calm down! Reborn-sempai wouldn't be happy if Tsuna came back damaged!" Skull yelled from the side, hands held out in a placating manner.

"I doubt Reborn would care, he'd probably torture the brat himself." Lal stated as she let go of the brunet's head.

Tsuna whimpered, holding his head and looking tearily at the other two Arcobaleno. Both of them had to stop for a moment and look away, blushing, as the absurd thought 'cute' entered their heads. Lal swore the brunet's hair deflated too, god now she felt as if she had kicked a puppy. 'How the hell does Reborn stand this?!"

Tsuna took this opportunity to look at the store they were standing in front of. There were mannequins in the large display windows wearing various attire; from ball gowns to suits to what looked like a very scary Halloween costumes. And the wooden sign with 'Beauté Sauvage' engraved in gold hung above the ornate door.

Tsuna paled.

Oh, now he knew _exactly _where he was. This was the place Reborn went to regularly for suits when Leon was too tired to make them, Tsuna had been here a couple of times and he would very much prefer to keep it that way!

The brunet had ran three feet, much to the shock of his two companions, before a measuring tape descended over his head and around his body. He was then forcefully pulled into someone's chest, hard.

"Why if it isn't my Dear Tsunayoshi~! Oh my, look at how much you've grown! All these muscles are just divine!"

Tsuna shuddered as a pair of hands ran down his chest and onto his thighs.

"Oh, your legs would make any girl green with envy, mon cher!"

The brunet had no time to move as his face was gripped and he was forcefully turned around by his head, his neck craning at an impossible angle. He came face-to-face with the excited grey eyes of one Alaire, the owner of Beauté Sauvage.

"Aww, you're face has lost some of its softness, but I suppose it's to be expected. Look at all these lovely angles that are emerging~"

Lal and Skull watched incredulously as a lime-green haired man in an old fashioned navy suit, with ruffles at the sleeves and chest, and coat tails trailing behind him, felt Tsuna up and stated cooing at the teen as he dragged Tsuna into the store.

"Does Tsuna know Alaire?" whispered Skull, cupping his hand around his mouth and leaning toward Lal.

"Hn, figures Reborn would take the brat here." Lal muttered as she entered the store, the bell at the door tinkled at their entrance. The first things in sight were racks upon racks of all kinds of clothes. The two could hear Alaire bemoaning in the back though.

"Just what is this?! Dressing you in these oversized abominations? Is Reborn asking for people to look at you and see this adorable little thing with big brown eyes and making them think of doing all sorts of perverted things to you?! Oh my gosh, Tsunayoshi! Alaire here shall protect you from the perverts! Never fear!"

"Alaire! You're the only pervert here!" Lal stated as she stalked into the back room. Skull ran past her and put his hand on his hips as he announced, "THE GREAT SKULL IS HERE!" Only to duck behind Lal when he took a good look at the room.

The room was covered in fabrics, sewing machines, threads, patterns, pens, drafts and everything you would expect a tailor to have. Tsuna was being held down on the couch with Alaire gripping his borrowed shirt and trying to tug it over the brunet's head. The teen was holding fast, the note book in his hands reading 'HELP ME!' accompanied by the teen's pleading gaze.

"Skull, is that you?! Oh my, Lal?! Just what is going on? Have your adult forms returned? Shall I break out the champagne?"

Skull gaped at the frivolous man for several seconds while Lal did her best to resist the urge to take out her handgun and start shooting.

"A-Alaire, why d-don't you let Tsuna go and we'll tell you why w-we're here." Skull stuttered from his position behind Lal. The Arcobaleno had often used this man as their tailor even before getting cursed, and continued to go to him for the majority of their specialised clothes. They were quite used to the man's odd habits but still got unnerved by them from time to time, especially now where Tsuna seemed to bring out the extremities of his quirky personality.

"But he's just too cute!" The gaudy man turned back to give the brunet another hug only to find the brunet not there and an empty shirt in his hands. "Aww, where did my darling Tsunayoshi go?"

As the man fretted about, Skull felt something grip his arm and he would have yelled aloud if he hadn't seen the fluffy brown hair. "Tsuna?" he whispered. The brunet, nude from waist up, nodded, his eyes shifting about fearfully, and held out the notebook.

_'I'm getting out of here.'_

Tsuna was just about to bolt when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, painfully.

"Sorry, brat. As much as he is a perv, he's the best of the best at his job. And we can't have you running about in Reborn's clothes forever.

And with that final note, Lal handed the struggling brunet over to the tailor as if the teen was going into his death sentence.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Tsuna was exhausted. Amazingly, getting changed in and out of clothes like a doll in a rabid girl's hands was more stressing than going through Reborn's training... wait, he would have to debate that thought for a while yet. The brunet could hear Alaire gushing to Skull and Lal about how brilliant he looked and the bluenette's angry retorts and Skull's questions. 'Thank god he didn't make me parade around in front of them.'

Alaire had made several sets of clothes for Tsuna in moments. The brunet was sure that it was physically impossible for such a thing to happen, yet it did, right before his eyes. He had been shoved in to and out of clothes faster than he could blink and he was very_ very_ glad that the tailor had no time to... admire his body, when the tailor was so focused on creating the garments.

The teen could also admit to himself that wearing clothes that actually _fit_ for once was a blessing; even though a small part of him enjoyed wearing Reborn's clothes because he liked the scent.

Tsuna heaved a sigh then looked toward the table inside the change room and grinned as his eyes took on a dangerous sheen. He should probably thank the Alaire anyway because man, did the tailor know how cater to a hitman's needs.

"So these are all the clothes you made?" Skull asked as he peered into the multiple fancy bags with 'Beauté Sauvage' inscribed on the side.

"Oui, aren't they just gorgeous? Tsunayoshi's luscious body just titillates my imaginative side~ Of course I included all the extras," Alaire held out his hand as he started counting off on his fingers, "bullet proof, flame resistant; both types of course, resistance against blades, built-in high force absorbance, flexibility, and last but not least; amour!"

Lal quirked a brow and decided to ignore how 'love' could be integrated into clothes, "we weren't really after anything like that, just some clothes that the brat could wear."

"Ah! But you see, Monsieur Reborn always demands that all the extras be put in, he seems to find Tsunayoshi... accident prone, of course that just makes ma chéri all the more delectable!"

There was a thunk as a thin silver knife embedded into the wall where the tailor's head had been.

"Tsunayoshi! Now, is that any way to thank the one who made you such marvellous garments?"

Lal and Skull turned to see the brunet leaning against the doorway and gaped.

Tsuna was holding up his note book_. "I am not accident prone, I just happen to get into unusual circumstances often. And that _is_ my way to thank you for the weapons, Alaire."_

Tsuna was now dressed in black slacks and leather shoes, a wine-red dress shirt that bought out the russet undertones in his hair, a black vest and tie over that. The outfit fit him perfectly and even helped to hint at the hidden muscles in his chest and arms.

Both of the Arcobaleno could agree that Tsuna looked older and more like a hitman this way. Lal could also spot with her trained eyes (she doubted that normal mafiosi would be able to see them) the hidden weapons; the cufflinks had miniature blades on them, the very slight bulge on the vest indicated a gun and there were hints of hidden blades on the teen's arms, legs and she wouldn't put it past the tailor to put blades in the shoes.

Lal smirked. "You clean up well, brat."

Skull grinned, "You look great! Almost as awesome as me!"

The brunet smiled gently back at them as Alaire gasped and ran into the changing room, "Non non, it is not complete!" the tailor retuned and plonked a fedora, with a red stripe the same shade as the shirt, on the teen's head. "There, perfect!"

Tsuna grinned and bought his hand up to tilt the fedora down, imitating Reborn and shadowing his eyes, much to Alaire's pleasure as the frivolous tailor began squealing like a fanboy.

As they were leaving the store, Tsuna and Skull carrying the bags, Alaire shouts after them. "Come back whenever you need me, darlings! And I hope Reborn doesn't keep you playing that game of silence Tsunayoshi, I love your beautiful voice!"

The brunet could do nothing but sweat-drop at the man's obliviousness.

* * *

Markets in Milan, Italy

"You do realise we didn't come for cake, right?"

The brunet stopped pressing his drooling face against the glass display case to turn pleading eyes toward Lal. The three of them had decided to get groceries next and were roaming the markets. Lal had no idea how the brunet still managed to pull off 'cute' in his new clothes, but he did. Skull, after several moments of silence, could not stand the puppy dog eyes of the brunet and turned on Lal too.

"Lal, why don't we go in for one slice! We've been walking around for hours now."

The purple haired man cowered when the ex-militant glared at him.

Lal glanced at the brunet to find Tsuna's eyes were starting to water and huffed exasperatedly. "Fine, one slice. That is it." She felt slightly disturbed as the brunet's expression did a complete one-eighty and then choked as she was glomped in a bone crushing hug.

Luckily for her, the brunet soon let her go in favour of walking into the dessert parlour and heading straight for a table in a corner. Skull followed the brunet as Lal grumbled under her breath and rubbed her limbs. Glancing at the table she smirked; the brunet had chosen the one in the corner which meant enemies couldn't sneak up from behind and that particular one had a good view of the front door and the kitchens. She wondered if the teen even knew about his choice or if he did it subconsciously.

Skull was busy watching the brunet as Lal took a seat and a waitress approached them. The waitress took one look at the brunet and blushed as she asked for his order, Tsuna just nodded and pointed out what he wanted and the other two did the same. The waitress never looked away from the brunet but Tsuna didn't seem to notice the intense stare at all, she huffed as she walked away to put down their orders.

Lal snickered from behind her hand while Skull seemed to remain oblivious and was asking Tsuna a question. It seemed the brunet wasn't aware of his charm at all, she was sure that if it were Reborn, the raven would have either shown interest or flat out told the woman that he wasn't interested in as polite and blunt a way as possible.

Speaking of the raven, the bluenette had seen him stalk out of the apartment this morning with a scowl on his face. She had a feeling she knew what he was going out for; he was reverting back to some of his more annoying habits now that he had his body. The ex-militant wasn't going to complain though, Reborn's life was his own, even Luce hadn't bothered with it too much unless Reborn ended up missing something important; like dinner.

"Tsuna, a-are you sure you can finish all that?" Skull stared at the largest slice of Black forest gâteau he had ever seen. His only reply is the brunet shoving a large spoonful into his mouth, humming happily.

Skull turned to his own cake; a slice of Baumkuchen*, and started digging in. He glanced at Tsuna now and then, wanting to ask something that had been on his mind as well as wonder how in the_ world_ the brunet managed to consume copious amounts of cake between each glance. Tsuna seemed to notice, because when the brunet was almost done eating (by which time Skull and Lal had only managed a fifth of their own), he turned to the stuntman with his notebook. Skull hadn't even noticed the brunet writing with his other hand.

_'What's wrong? You've been looking at me strangely.'_

Skull blushed before asking, "Why did you decide to go shopping with me? I know you could have gone home after getting your clothes. Reborn only ordered me to go get them."

Tsuna tapped his fork against his lips in thought. He'd decided to accompany Skull on the shopping trip and Lal had tagged along, stating that there was a place she wanted to go to afterwards. Looking down again, he started scribbled a response.

_'Reborn usually orders me to get stuff for him so it's fine. Besides, I don't want to be stuck indoors all day._

Skull was about to take another bite when he saw the reply and surprise crossed his features. "Reborn orders you around? For shopping?"

The brunet nodded and started listing. _'Shopping, paying for damages _he_ caused, getting him alcohol...though I don't usually comply with that one, since he was a baby, and we end up fighting; so I have to pay for more damages. And then there's his coffee, he's extremely picky!_

Skull stared down at the growing list and couldn't help feeling a kinship develop between himself and brunet. A spot light shone as he reached out and clasped Tsuna's hands, his amethyst eyes gazing endearingly into honey-brown ones as he called out. "Comrade!"

Tsuna, feeling this deep bond develop between them, clasped his hands back as he felt himself tearing up. He then reached out one hand to scribble a final note. _'We should set out on a quest for revenge against the evil Reborn!'_

Lal just shook her head at the ridiculous scene as the two continued to gaze at each other and converse through looks alone. This was even worse than watching Iemitsu on a drunken rant.

The three were interrupted for a moment when an explosion echoed from a few stores away, making customers peer out the window to see a pillar of smoke rising from whichever unfortunate place that had just been blown up. Whispers spread rapidly about a bunch of loud foreign troublemakers but Tsuna and Skull paid no mind, having gone back to planning revenge on Reborn.

* * *

After getting the rest of the groceries, the three had ventured into the shadiest part of town to a weapons dealer so that Lal could restock on ammunition and purchase an automatic Uzi. That venture had been rather fearful for Skull and had made Tsuna come off his cheer and become openly wary. Lal had grudgingly approved of the brunet's attitude and stance change despite the numerous bags that were weighing the two males down.

Tsuna had refused to let Lal carry more than two bags due to Reborn's ingrained training, and the woman had thrown a fit about being treated like 'a helpless girl'. That is, until the brunet had corrected her and told her that if anyone was to attack them, Lal would be the best at reacting to the situation.

This made the bluenette wonder if Tsuna had inklings as to why she had come along. She didn't necessarily need to buy her ammunition nor weapons today. The only reason was because the brunet was now the Sky Arcobaleno, and although it was impossible that the underground world knew of this yet, they couldn't take any chances.

Now that they had arrived home in the late evening, the ex-militant breathed a sigh of relief as she sat on the sofa, placing her new gun and ammunition on to the coffee table. Skull flopped onto the chair next to her, complaining about his arms as he released the numerous bags. Tsuna had headed into the kitchen, having volunteered to cook tonight.

Verde glanced at them from his seat at the kitchen island, where he could observe his Subject and watch his fellow Arcobaleno in the living room at the same time. "Anything interesting?"

Lal rolled her eyes, "besides Alaire getting a bit _too_ excited with the brat and an episode of idiocy between Skull and the kid, nothing much."

"Hey! That was a show of camaraderie between two like minded individual-! H-hello Colonnello-sempai!"

"Yo! The kid's gonna cook tonight?" Colonnello asked as he sauntered in and sat next to Lal, much to the bluenette's irritation.

Fon looked up from the book he was reading opposite Lal and Colonnello. "Yes, this way none of us will have to complain about the food."

"The kid's that good, kora?" Colonnello looked surprised.

"Hmph, figures he would be, what with _Reborn's_ picky tastes." Drawled the scientist.

"What was that about my tastes, Verde?" The group turned to see the hitman stalking through the door to the stairwell. Leon-gun pointed at the green-haired man.

Verde just directed a lazy stare at the hitman before turning back to observe the brunet cook. It was quite fascinating watching the teen dice vegetables in seconds. He himself preferred to mix different types of ingredients together to observe their reactions, perhaps that was why the taste came out so... unique.

Reborn huffed and turned to see both Fon and Lal staring at him, almost glaring really. He stared back, it wasn't their business what he went out and did. Considering that it had almost been a decade and a half since he'd indulged in such activities it was surprising he still had the charm, or maybe not. He wasn't the world's number one hitman for nothing.

Stalking further into the room he quirked a brow at the multitude of bags with 'Beauté Sauvage' inscribed on the side. "I know I told you to get him proper clothes, but this many?"

"Alaire went a little mad." Lal stated, she had started looking over the ammunition, handing some to Colonnello.

"Hn, figures." Reborn let an evil smirk spread across his lips and Skull gulped from his seat; the stuntman had the best view of the hitman. "I bet Tsuna had fun."

"Reborn-sempai! You mean you told us to go there on purp-!"

*BANG*

"A-ahaha, the great Skull said nothing!"

Reborn huffed and let Leon change back. The chameleon crawled up his arm and on to his fedora as the hitman began looking through some of the bags. Reborn nodded in approval; Alaire did his job well despite his eccentricities, although... The hitman pulled up something from one of the bags.

"What the hell is that, kora?!"

It was... a waiter's outfit. A _sexy_ waiter's outfit, to be exact, it consisted of nothing but an apron, cufflinks and a collar.

The Arcobaleno gaped at the thing for moment. Then Fon reached past the hitman to grab the next one and held it up.

This one looked like nothing but a bunch of leather straps.

"I-Is that a bondag-!" Skull slapped a hand on his mouth before saying any more, face turning red.

Reborn quirked a brow, wondering how the stuntman would know what a bondage outfit looked like.

Lal just growled under her breath. "I am going to _kill_ that man."

There was a clutter from the kitchen doorway and they turned to find Tsuna gaping at them, a wooden ladle at his feet from where he'd dropped it and Verde gripping the teen's arm. The scientist had noticed the brunet walking out but had been too slow to stop the teen.

Several moments of utter silence passed as several of the Arcobaleno started to blush; because the brunet was standing there and the outfits were still being held out and it was quite obvious whom the garments were made to fit.

Then Reborn growled, grabbed the one Fon was holding and shoved them into the bag with the rest. As to whether or not he even wanted to _see_ the rest...well, that would be tackled another day. The hitman stood up with the bag and stalked up the stairs, no, he did not rush.

Tsuna was still in shock, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish before his face started blooming red. _'W-what was that?!'_

Skull and Verde remained confused as to what the brunet said but the look of pure embarrassment was enough of an indication.

Fon stood up and went to the teen, dragging Tsuna away from Verde and pushing him toward the kitchen again. "Don't worry about it Tsuna, it's nothing." The martial artist's smile sharpened and it was lucky the brunet's back was to him. "I will have to make a personal 'visit' to Alaire." He muttered under his breath and when the brunet turned to him curiously, Fon plastered on a genial smile. "Why don't I help you set up the table?"

Colonnello turned from the retreating pair to the small white note that got left behind when Reborn left.

**Now that you are almost of age, it's finally time to explore the wide world of Amour! Please use these garments and your delicious body to seduce many! **

**–Love, Alaire**

The note was turned to ash instantly as fist full of blazing blue flames engulfed it. "That perv's gonna die, kora."

* * *

Forest in the outskirts of Milan (Japanese being spoken)

"WE'RE LOST TO THE EXTREME!"

"And whose fucking fault is that?"

"You're the one who said you knew where Sawada EXTREMELY was, Tako-head!"

"Herbivores, be quiet! I'll bite you to death."

"Ahaha! Calm down, we'll find Tsuna eventually!"

Four teenagers wondered a forest edge. Well, three walked together while one trailed behind; sticking to the upper canopy so as to avoid being associated with 'crowding herbivores'.

"Baseball-freak! This is your fault! If you hadn't gone and challenged Turf-top to a stupid competition of who could eat their pistachio gelato the fastest we wouldn't be in this situation! "The silver-haired teen with a cigarette poking out of his mouth growled and glared at the taller raven-haired teen. He was also holding an odd red device.

"THAT COMPETITION WAS EXTREME! I BET SAWADA WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN MORE EXTREME!" Another teen with silver hair punched his fist into the air, eyes blazing with yellow flame.

"SHUT UP, TURF-TOP!"

"Ahahahaha, calm down Hayato! And senpai's right, if Tsuna had been there we would have been beat. Besides... Weren't you the one who threw the dynamite?"

"Don't you dare go blaming me! It's your fault for being IDIOTS!"

"Tako-head! Where's Sawada?!"

"I TOLD you! This UMA technology isn't wholly accurate! I can only track Tsuna-sama's vague location... A signal showed up about two days ago around here and hasn't changed. Tsuna-sama must be around this area! I'll search every house and Famiglia in the area if I have to!"

"Whoa, Hayato! Isn't that breaking and entering?!"

"We're talking about Tsuna-sama! What if he'd been kidnapped?! No, he was already kidnapped! We have to find him and kill the bastards who dared to take Tsuna-sama!"

"Sawada won't be EXTREMELY kidnapped! Master Pao Pao trained him to the EXTREME!"

"Tch. Idiot! We're talking about Tsuna-sama! The greatest man! The only one I will follow! And the only one who's willing to get involved in anything to help someone! No matter how dangerous it is!" By this point, the silver haired bomber had fist-pumped and was looking up at the darkening sky with reverent eyes.

The taller dark haired teen grinned and put his arms behind his head. "Maa maa, what Hayato's trying to say, senpai, is that Tsuna gets into trouble easily."

As the bomber spluttered and was about to retort when the boxer grinned and nodded in understanding. "SAWADA IS AN EXTREME MAN!"

"YOU JUST DON'T GET IT DO YOU, DAMN TURF-TOP!"

"Maa maa, calm down you two. Hibari wondered off somewhere."

"WHAT?! Tch. That fuckin' skylark! Can't even stay on track! Come back here you dam-!"

*BOOM!*

* * *

Outskirts of a small town in Italy.

*Ding Dong!*

A little cow child stood on the doorstep to an Italian villa. Fidgeting and picking his nose as he waited for the door to be opened.

When it was opened, he saw the confused face of Chrome, her eyes red from crying.

"Lambo?"

"Gyahaha! Lambo-sama is here to find Tsuna-nii!" The cow child yelled as he placed his hands on his hips and laughed.

"Kufufufu, what are you talking about, cow? Sawada Tsunayoshi is dead." Mukuro came out from behind Chrome, his eyes narrowed. It was hard to spot, but the illusionist had dark shadows under his eyes and even his signature laugh was somewhat lacklustre. Although his hair was as neat as ever.

"Tsuna-nii is not dead!" Fumed the child, stomping his foot. "Giotto said that Reborn said so!"

The child was unprepared for Chrome to reach out and grab him, looking at him with eyes full of hope. "I-is that true?! Bossu is alive?"

"Of course! Tsuna-nii is too strong!" Yelled Lambo as he fist pumped, only to squeak as the female hugged him tightly.

"Nufufufu~ interesting... Chrome, shall we arrange to meet Tsunayoshi? I'll punish him for making you worry." And nobody could hear that creepy laugh gain back its creep factor, nobody at all.

Chrome smiled in relief.

* * *

**A/N:** Mockingjay Rose's Sectret santa event is still open! 8D

*Kata - a set of training exercises for martial arts

*Baumkuchen - A layered cake normally cooked for a long time on a spit. Literally means 'Tree cake' or something. I'd love to try it sometime but I don't think it's available here. TAT

**R&R!**


	12. Chapter 10

Hitmen in Crisis 10

**A/N**: Sorry I'm so late with this chapter! My muse ran away and I had no incentive to write. Instead, procrastination and laziness took over and I ended up reading manga and (finally) watching PsychoPass. Truthfully, I'm not satisfied with this chapter...but tell me what you think!

EDIT: Mafia Row changed to Mafia Land. Eheheh, but Mafia Row is a good fic.

* * *

"Tsuna? What's wrong? You're not focusing."

Fon and Tsuna were sitting cross-legged in his dojo, doing a meditating exercise after a hard workout. Well, Fon was, the brunet was staring blankly out of the shoji windows.

Having garnered no response from the brunet, Fon sat up and leaned forward to rest his hand on that fluffy hair. Tsuna twitched at the touch and looked up at his sensei, blinking curiously and wondering what was wrong.

The martial artist sighed and repeated his sentence, "You're not focusing, is something wrong?"

The teen jumped a little at that before blushing and scratching his cheek sheepishly; he hadn't noticed his loss of focus, having been lost in thought. Then he shook his head and mouthed, _'nothing's wrong.'_

Fon huffed softly before reaching down to tilt the brunet's chin up and stared directly into those honey-brown eyes. Seeing the way the eyes shifted a little he felt his lips quirk up in exasperation. "You're such a terrible liar. Now tell me, what's wrong?"

The brunet shook his head, hair flying about wildly. Tsuna didn't want to tell his sensei such a trivial matter; It was embarrassing enough he'd been caught. It was nothing, really, the brunet had just been wondering where Reborn kept disappearing to. Half the time the hitman came back really late and the teen would stay up to see Reborn in their bedroom and be scolded for not going to sleep. Tsuna pouted, he just didn't want to miss out on any important missions and he knew Reborn could be reckless too, sometimes...okay, rarely. But that didn't stop the teen from worrying. It was a stupid thing; Reborn could take care of himself.

"Are you worried about Reborn?" Fon quickly covered his mouth with his sleeve when he saw the brunet flush and twiddle with the hem of his robe nervously, shoulders hunching. Clearly the martial artist had hit the nail on the head, it was quite obvious; the teen's eyes often strayed toward the empty chair at the dinning table during meals and when Reborn left Leon in the teen's care, Fon often caught the brunet playing with the little lizard. The storm Arcobaleno took note to_ talk_ to the hitman about prolonged absences. He also knew that the teen was only so easy to read because the teen trusted them; had it been with anyone else Tsuna would have raised his guard and shown no indication of inner insecurities.

Fon smiled softly to himself, somehow or another, the brunet had integrated himself with the Arcobaleno. The teen had gotten into the crazy timetable and gotten used to it, cooking most of the meals for the Arcobaleno with Skull joining him sometimes (because their cooking was the only one all the Arcobaleno could stomach without committing some sort of homicide).

Fon blinked as he noted something then looked toward the teen again to see Tsuna peeking nervously out of his bangs. The martial artist smiled reassuringly at the brunet and reached out to ruffle the brown hair. He then tilted the brunet's face up once again and traced a thumb over the thick dark circles under the brunet's eyes, and hid his frown. "If Reborn keeps coming back so late, why don't you sleep with me?"

The brunet gaped, then shook his head, mortified. There was no way he could impose on his sensei like that! It was bad enough he had to do it with Reborn.

Fon gripped the shaking head and stilled the teen, smiling into the embarrassed face. "It's fine, I know you don't sleep very well on your own." It was true, the martial artist knew that the teen didn't actually sleep well on his own. Tsuna had always slept with Giotto as a child up until he was a teen, then Reborn had forced them apart saying how pathetic it was for them to sleep together. Fon had been there to see the way the brunet tossed and turned in his sleep and watch as the teen jolted awake if even a creak in the floor was heard only to flop back, completely awake and was lucky if he could fall into a restless sleep again.

This had been one of the times when the brunet had stayed over at Takesushi and slept alone. Tsuna had still been a new student to the martial artist, so Fon had not been sure of what was wrong. He was going to approach the brunet when he had to quickly move back as his pacifier started glowing and Reborn appeared.

_"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Asked the martial artist, staring directly into the obsidian eyes of the infant hitman._

_"Tch. The kid's hopeless. Since you're here, you can be his victim." Reborn had tilted his fedora down, shodowing his eyes even though it was already dark._

_"What?" Fon looked to the hitman in confusion._

_"Look, he's fallen back to a restless sleep again. Just go up and let him hug you, he'll sleep properly then."_

_"What?" Fon turned back from observing the teen, but the hitman had already disappeared. _

So Fon had ended up in an odd cuddle when morning came, much to the amusement of the older Yamamoto, and had to pry to the teen off him; which was rather easy when you consider how small he had been back then.

Fon felt himself smile at the memory, it was an odd condition, he could admit. And Tsuna slept like a log once he was comfortable. Not only that, but the teen's oddly comforting presence and scent had made the martial artist sleep in (further than his usual waking time) but also assured a really good nights rest for the martial artist. Fon also knew he wasn't the only one, there was the odd time when Yamamoto Takeshi ended up in the same bed as Tsuna and the taller teen would wake saying that it was the best rest he'd ever had before reaching over and attempting to wake Tsuna. So in reality, it was beneficial to the martial artist too, to sleep with the brunet.

Fon blinked away from his thoughts and memories to find that Tsuna had escaped his grip and was playing with Lichi. Placing a grape at random places; in the crook of his neck, on his head, on his knee, and allowing the little monkey to climb all over him to get to the food. Tsuna tried his best not to move as the monkey kept tickling him, giggling and snorting at random intervals.

Fon smiled at the sight before reaching over and gripping the teen around the waist. Tsuna released a squeak as he found himself against Fon's chest and being hugged by his sensei, and peered up curiously into his sensei's face. Fon had gestured to Lichi to help roll out the rolled up matting then looked down into honey-brown obs. "Let's take a nap now, okay?"

_'Now?'_

"Yes, just look at these bags under your eyes. I think you'll need it."

* * *

Colonnello hummed to himself as he got out of the shower and grabbed a towel to cover himself with. He then opened the sliding door that lead to the indoor Onsen they had recently put back to use. This was located on the first floor of the Arcobaleno Casa behind the main entrance hall.

Stepping into the steaming room and into the rock pool, the blond breathed a sigh of contentment as the hot liquid enveloped the aching muscles he had gained from that morning's training with Lal. It had certainly been quite some time since he'd last trained with his ex-Captain and boy had he forgotten the feeling of being worked nearly to death. But his aches and pains left him feeling content; because that meant the training had done it's job and that he'd gotten a good workout. Maybe he should make more time to train with Lal at any opportunity he got, that way he would have more opportunities to admire her.

The blond really had to thank the kid; he rarely managed to get a 'break' like this, always being caught in some work or another, especially on Mafia Land. He didn't get much of an opportunity as a baby to see Lal after she entered the CEDEF. And now they had time, at least for a bit, and he'd been using it to catch up on all those things he'd missed as well as get to know the hyper kid better. Colonnello chuckled; just yesterday he, Lal and the kid had gone out and had a shooting competition. Lal had wanted to see what guns the Tsuna could use, and it had been really amusing to watch the brunet look at all the ones he hadn't used before in Lal's stash. The kid had looked up with puppy-dog eyes and neither Colonnello nor Lal could bring themselves to say no and had ended up teaching the kid how to use them.

Colonnello blinked when he noticed a faint orange glow through the steam. Curious he waded through the hot rock pool and was surprised to find Tsuna in the pool too. The brunet had sat down in the middle, knees drawn up with his chin resting on them; the water went to the brunet's chin. There was also a small towel sitting on the brunet's damp hair. Colonnello would have laughed at how the hair still stuck out stubbornly if it weren't for the fact that the teen had his flames activated. The orange pacifier was held in front of his face and orange glazed eyes were staring intently at it, as if it held all the secrets of the world.

"Tsuna?"

272727

A glint of Silver.

_Horror and helplessness._

A single mask.

_Death, cloying and repugnant._

Red.

_Accompanied by a metallic stench, and the conflicting emotions of relief and despair._

The images raced past his eyes, fleeting and untamable. He had barely grasped them before they left, like water through a sieve.

Tsuna blinked his eyes open with a gasp, tearing his mind away and teetered into burning hot liquid. It felt too hot, he needed to get out, needed to eradicate the remaining scents and emotions and not think. But molten fire consumed him, raced down his throat to constrict and burn as he panicked, clawing at his neck. Something latched onto his arm like iron cuffs and he struggled against it, kicking out with his foot and hitting something hard. The grip disappeared as blackness engulfed his vision and his head pounded painfully and he was lost in the flames.

272727

Tsuna came to with a gasp, feeling something soft press against his lips and push air into him. He quickly lifted a arm to push that something away and turned on his side, hacking and coughing up water until all he could feel was the burn of bile in the back of his throat.

"You alright there, kora?!"

Tsuna flopped back against the damp tiling, feeling exhausted, and peered up tiredly to see the blond man leaning above him and looking at him worriedly. Colonnello, sporting a black eye, frowned as the brunet remained unresponsive but for panting, taking in gulps of precious air, and reached out to gently pat one cheek.

"Tsuna?"

The brunet smiled when he felt the strangely cold hand on his cheek, it felt nice. Reaching out, he tugged the blond man down and cuddled the cooler body. Colonnello was startled to be suddenly pulled down with surprising strength and find the brunet hugging him. He blinked, it would have been fine if it weren't for the fact that he only had a towel on and the brunet was completely nude... "H-hey, let go!" He yelled as he felt himself blush.

Tsuna ignored the plea, he needed the coolness and the blond registered as very cool in his mind; like a spring downpour, and that was exactly what he needed right now. Tsuna struggled a bit keeping the man down and eventually pinned Colonnello against the floor while the brunet lay on top of his chest, content with the position and falling asleep. The blond man grunted from his position, bringing a hand up to the brunet's warm back and tracing down the damp skin. The teen felt really soft and smelt really nice.

"C-Colonnello-senpai? What-?"

The blond turned his head to see Skull in only a towel with Oodako following him, both master and creature had frozen in place, the purple haired man was gaping and pointing a shaking finger at the two on the floor.

"I-I thought Colonnello-senpai l-liked Lal! W-why-! W-with Tsuna-?!" Skull was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, unable to form the right words as his face and body started flushing a bright red.

"W-whoa! No, Kora! I'm not doing anything!" Yelled Colonnello, sitting up abruptly, shaking his head frantically and waving his arms about; trying to prove his innocence. This just made Tsuna slide down and for the brunet's face to land precariously close to Colonnello's-

Skull made a little scream before dashing out of the steaming room yelling, "I'm sorry for interrupting!"

"Hey- wait! Dammit Skull! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, KORA!"

Colonnello sighed and ran a hand through his damp hair. First, the brunet had been doing something weird when he'd stepped into the pool, then the teen had snapped out of it and fell into the water. Colonnello had thought it was shallow enough that the teen could have stood up again, but Tsuna hadn't, making Colonnello go down and grab the teen and get kicked in the eye for his efforts. By the time the blond dragged Tsuna out, the brunet had already swallowed a lot of water...and now, this happened.

Taking hold of the orange pacifier he had also rescued, he looked down toward the teen to question, "Just _what_ the hell were you doing, kora?" And, of course, received no response but for the teen to hug the blond around the waist, bringing him closer to Colonnello's crotch. The ex-COMSUBIN member blushed before reaching down to run a hand through wet brown locks, and grinned when the teen purred. Blue eyes raked over the pale body, slightly tanned from going out, but nothing like the tan you would get in the hot Italian summer. Still, it complimented the brunet's Japanese features and it gave a hint as to how soft and supple the brunet's skin was.

The blond groaned, then grabbed the Tsuna and stood up, planning to hoist the sleeping teen over his shoulder. Except Tsuna had managed to latch onto Colonnello during the standing up process and was happily nuzzling the blond's neck before the blond had even noticed. At least it he was on Colonnello's back now, the blond man sighed as he felt the pale arms tighten around his neck.

"Reborn's gonna kill me, if Lal doesn't first, kora."

* * *

Reborn returned in the afternoon for lunch, feeling quite satisfied. He had found a rather cute male with doe eyes and a good physique at a cafe this morning, and managed to charm the man. He had been a good lay, almost perfect, but Reborn would have preferred if the light brown hair had been darker and if the man's scent had been more...sweet.

Walking through the front door, Reborn could hear shouting and loud slaps from behind the wall that blocked the rest of the first floor from sight.

"Stop! *slap!* Lal! *slap* I didn't- *slap* do anything! *slap* Kora!" *slap*

"Then why did Skull run out screaming about interrupting you and why is the brat naked, and asleep on your back?!" The bluenette yelled as she continued to slap the blond.

'What?' Thought Reborn as he quickly walked past the wall to see an odd sight.

Skull was cowering on the floor, a steaming bump on his head and only wearing a towel. Oodako was next to him. Lal was grasping Colonnello by the hair and slapping him into oblivion, he was also only in a towel. Tsuna was latched onto Colonnello's back and asleep, from the looks of it as well as completely nude. The hitman found his eyes undeniably drawn to the soft pale behind before jerking his head to the side and growling, "What's going on?"

Lal let the blond man go, his cheeks literally steaming from the torture as he sunk to the ground. "This idiot here-" Lal jerked a thumb toward the blond, "molested your student."

"Nothing happened, kora! I just saved the kid from drowning, that's all, kora!" Colonnello's yelled with a mortified expression on his face.

"B-but I saw Colonnello-senpai touching Tsuna's arse!" Skull retorted before yelping as the blond man jumped on him and started punching him. "It was involuntary! Kora!"

Reborn gritted his teeth as he readied his Leon-crowbar.

Upstairs, Fon and Verde were waiting for the others to start their lunch take-out when loud yelling and screams could be heard from downstairs.

A few moments later, Reborn stalked past them and up the stairs with a freshly bruised Tsuna slung over his shoulder.

* * *

Reborn walked back into his room, having gone to take a shower. And immediately tensed when he saw Tsuna on the bed trashing about.

He had dressed the teen in a pair of loose pajama pants that Alaire had provided (thank god the majority of the clothes were still normal) before going to take a shower to wash off the excess from his morning...adventure. And left the teen in his bed.

Now Tsuna had his mouth open in silent screams. Eyebrows scrunched together with his eyes shut tight, and his left hand clawing at his right. Reborn was quick to walk over and place a hand over the forehead, where a light sky flame flickered erratically. His other hand grabbed Tsuna's left hand before the teen's nails broke through skin. Tsuna's was clammy to the touch, and as soon as Reborn placed his hand on the brunet's forehead, his student froze unnaturally stiff. The hitman had seen such episodes before and knew instantly that Tsuna was holding his breath.

Reborn lit his hand up in soft yellow flames and pushed the flames into the teen's head as hard as he could. He never really understood why it was so hard to chase Tsuna's nightmares away but it was like the teen had a barrier around his consciousness, either way, it was annoying to deal with so more often than not Reborn just allowed Tsuna to hold him when sleeping, at least that way there would be no night terrors.

Tsuna gasped and relaxed; falling into a more proper sleep as the flames chased the nightmare away, Reborn huffed and let go. Trailing his hand through the sweat matted brown hair.

_"B-but I saw Colonnello-senpai touching Tsuna's arse!"_

Reborn gritted his teeth as he tightened his grip. He didn't even get why he was so annoyed with that comment...or it could be the fact that Tsuna had nearly drowned in an _Onsen_ of all places. Yes, that's right, he needed to up the brat's training and make sure the idiot didn't do anything stupid ever agai-

A whimper of pain interrupted his thoughts and he looked down to see Tsuna's face scrunched up and his hand fisting a bunch of soft brown locks. Reborn quickly let go and watched the face relax. And hung his head in exasperation, really; he could almost say he was jealous, but over this brat?! Reborn growled under his breath and looked up into the brunet's peaceful face, trying to see what was garnering such an intense reaction from him.

He duly noted that a lot Tsuna's baby fat had disappeared, he hadn't really noticed since he was around the brunet so much, and that the expression had matured. Then again, Tsuna had been through a lot since he was a thirteen year old wimp and bully magnet. The hitman reached out to poke a cheek absentmindedly; he could admit that his student was still cute, retaining that short stature and those large doe eyes. Reborn traces his finger down to the neck, smirking when the teen shivered. The skin was pale and smooth, completely unmarked but for the few battle scars and old wounds, oh how tempted Reborn was to lean down and take a bite, leaving a-

Reborn snapped out of it when his mouth was inches from Tsuna's neck, shaking his head in frustration and quickly sitting up and shifting away. Hadn't he satisfied that urge already? Yet, whenever he came back to find the brunet in his bed and slept with the brunet, he still had this undeniable irk to take the teen as the stirrings of lust came straight back. It made no sense to the hitman, because although he didn't care much for the sex of his partners in the past, the majority had been busty women with _curves_, not lanky teenage boys. And definitely not someone like his own student; with his naïvety, recklessness, overall kindness...pale soft skin...tantalizingly sweet aroma.

Grumbling at the direction his thoughts went in yet _again_, Reborn sent a none too gentle glare at the slumbering teen. Maybe he needed a change; contact one of his ex-girlfriends for a fling again. With a sigh, he brought his fist up and bought it down harshly right into the middle of the brunet's forehead. Tsuna's reaction was instantaneous.

The brunet yelped as he sat up and held his sore head, flailing about for a moment before turning eyes full of hurt toward the hitman.

Reborn smirked deviously at the brunet's puppy dog face, complete with deflating hair, it was so much fun to tease him.

"It's lunch time, Dame-Tsuna."

* * *

Milan, Italy

Giotto groaned as he trudged along the street, Asari smiling amiably from beside him and Lampo trailing behind at a street stall that sold candy.

"Damn it! It's all Reborn's fault! Why can't he just call back and tell me where Tsuna is?!" The blond wailed as he tugged on his fluffy hair.

Asari patted Giotto's shoulder reassuringly. "Maa maa, I'm sure Reborn-san is taking good care of Tsuna."

Giotto looked at him, horror-stricken, then grabbed Asari's collar. "This is _Reborn_ we're talking about." He hissed, eyes shifting from side to side as if the mere mention of the hitman would bring hell down on them. "For all we know, that Spartan baby- I mean, adult could be torturing my adorable Tsuna this very minute!" An image of his little twin, being forced to run around in his boxers while chased by rabid bunnies came to mind and Giotto let out an unmanly shriek as he dashed around the corner.

And promptly collided with someone, hard enough to send him flying back into Asari's arms.

"Watch where you're going, you fuckin' idiot!"

"EXTREME FALL, TAKO-HEAD!"

Giotto blinked, that loud shout sounded a lot like Knuckles' little brother, but why would he be here? The blond quickly stood up and got prepared to apologize, only to look up and for his jaw to drop.

Opposite him, a pair of green eyes widened in surprise and relief. While Giotto lifted a shaky hand to point at the silver haired teen. "G-G?! I thought I sent you with Daemon! And what happened to your hair?!"

At the same time, Gokudera yelled. "Tsuna-sama?! Your hair! Why- What-!" Then the silver haired teen realized he had just yelled at his most admired person and quickly started banging his head against the ground in dogeza position. "I apologize profusely for my rudeness, please punish me as you see fit!"

Asari and Yamamoto laughed awkwardly and tried to stop the teen while Giotto just gaped.

"SAWADA'S BROTHER IS HERE TO THE EXTREME TOO!" Yelled Ryohei enthusiastically.

"Why is one of the loud idiots here?" Lampo questioned as he sauntered up with his fingers in his ears, a lollypop sticking out of his mouth. His expression turned shocked when he saw Gokudera, "You're...G's cousin?"

Gokudera stopped bashing his head against the cement when he heard Lampo, and whipped his head up to look at Giotto again. "You're not...Tsuna-sama?"

While Giotto stared and asked, "you're not G?"

Yamamoto grinned and patted the silveret's shoulder, "that's Giotto-san, Tsuna's older twin. Remember he mentioned that to you?"

In a flash, Gokudera's expression darkened and he glowered at Giotto menacingly. "I'm not my idiot cousin, and I have a fight to pick with _you_."

Giotto backed away nervously, hands held up in a placating gesture. He never knew G had a cousin that was pretty much a carbon copy, sans the colouring, and he had_ no_ idea what he did to piss off the teen. The blond figured he should start activating his flames when dynamite appeared in the silveret's hands along with a cigarette in the teen's mouth.

* * *

"Reborn's going to get his punishment for ordering The Great Skull around!" Skull cackled from his crouch near the edge of the roof, he sneezed as a large breeze blew through.

Tsuna grinned from beside him, also crouched down and looking through the scope of the sniper rifle he'd managed to convince Colonnello to lend to him. For some reason the blond man, who had also been covered in bruises and a black eye, wouldn't look him in the eyes and blushed and _stuttered_ before shoving the gun into the brunet's arms and walking away stiffly with steam trailing out of his ears. Verde had made some comment about 'hormones and the change' so Tsuna had concluded that Colonnello was just having a difficult time.

Then he had left with Skull to shadow Reborn, a difficult mission in and of itself considering Reborn's status. Tsuna had to make sure that none of his and Skull's presence and flames could be felt, at all. Thankfully he had one of Spanner's ingenious inventions for that particular issue, so the two had managed to track the hitman to a café without being spotted, and had positioned themselves on the roof of the building opposite the cafe. In truth, Tsuna wanted to know what Reborn was doing, always disappearing during the day. And this was as good an opportunity as any.

"Ahahahaha! The greatest Stuntman, Skull, and his sidekick, Tsuna, shall have their revenge by...Wait-, what are we doing again?"

Tsuna hummed, not at all offended at being called the sidekick. It was cute seeing Skull act like this, at the Arcobaleno Casa the stuntman was mostly bullied and pushed around and treated as an errand boy by Reborn and Colonnello.

"Oh, right! Embarrass Reborn! And Reborn shall bow at our feet begging for forgiveness!" Skull continued to boast as he waved a camera about.

Looking through the scope, Tsuna could see Reborn getting into a booth in a cafe and ordering a coffee. The brunet noticed that the waitress seemed to stall and talked for a long time to his teacher and tilted his head in thought. Watching the way the female fidgeted and her face bloom red. 'Does she like Reborn?' Turning the scope back on his teacher, he noted the way Reborn was sitting in a relaxed yet elegant posture, the light shining just right to make the ever-present fedora shadow the hitman's eyes and give him a mysterious aura. 'Reborn looks good.' Tsuna mused, a small pout on his lips, he felt slightly jealous; even as a baby, Reborn attracted the attention of females with his 'innocent' baby looks, now as an adult it seemed that the suave sexy hitman could swoon females just with his presence.

Tsuna blinked, startled that the word 'sexy' had even entered his mind when thinking of his teacher and quickly shook his head from side to side in embarrassment, why would he think such a thing? But Reborn did look good in adult form...

"Tsuna? Something wrong? Are you missing Colonnello-sempai?"

The brunet turned to look at Skull in confusion. Which the stuntman interpreted wrong, the purple haired man shaking his head as he stuttered, "I-I'm not trying to pry or anything a-and I didn't see anything! I swear! And I don't worry; I don't think there's anything wrong with gay relationships so you have my full approval!" Yelled Skull as he pounded Tsuna's back in his enthusiasm.

Now the brunet was beyond confused, what about Colonnello? Why was Skull acting so jittery? And _gay relationships_?! When?! But Tsuna couldn't ask anything as he couldn't talk.

"Ah, but..." Tsuna turned his head up from where he had been examining the ground in confusion to see Skull leaning over and blink when the purple haired man placed his hands on the brunet's shoulders, expression serious. "If Colonnello-sempai hurts you in any way, feel free to come to me, The Great Skull will protect you!"

Okay, Skull made no sense, the brunet concluded. But he was touched at the offer and so smiled and hugged the man. Skull blushed upon getting an armful of fluffy brunet and tried to stutter something, only to get a noseful of strawberry and vanilla scent and unconsciously relax into the hold, his own arms curling around to the brunet's back.

Tsuna remained content with the embrace, Skull reminded him of leather and recklessness, like the bruised clouds during a storm. Then the brunet started and squeaked upon realising he had taken his eyes off Reborn. Which was a BIG no-no when trying to track someone like the world's Greatest Hitman. He turned quickly to peer over the ledge at the edge of the building, Skull still hugging him around his chest. Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Reborn still at the café, sipping his espresso calmly.

"What are we going to do to get back at Reborn?" Skull asked from where he'd placed his head on Tsuna's shoulder, too comfortable to let go of the brunet at the moment.

Tsuna smirked and readied the gun, peering through the scope again. His finger tightened on the trigger as Reborn was about to take another sip of his espresso. Only to have to abruptly shift it away as Reborn put his cup down and lifted his head in a nod to the inside of the café.

The brunet blinked when a buxom female in a tight red evening gown and flowing blond hair came into view, business men in the café were already staring at her swaying hips. Reborn stood and took the woman's hand to kiss it before leading her to his table.

Tsuna felt a tinge of unease rest in his stomach, not his hyper intuition but something else, as he watched the woman openly flirt with Reborn and the hitman respond in kind, much to the envying gazes of the other customers. When the woman reached out to brush Reborn's curly sideburns, laughing about something as Reborn took a sip from his cup, Tsuna's stomach dropped and he involuntarily tightened his grip on the trigger.

The shot was instantaneous from this distance, Reborn's cup shattering into a thousand pieces as the bullet passed the open window and got the perfect shot on Reborn's espresso.

Tsuna looked on shakily through the scope as his eyes met Reborn's for a mere nano-second during the chaos of startled yells and flummoxed waitresses, before he ducked down behind the wall, pressing himself into Skull and feeling as if he'd run a marathon. The brunet barely registered Skull hugging him from behind and yelling something about the 'perfect shot' and getting the photo. He was too busy remembering the anger and irritation and...guilt? in those eyes. He could get anger and irritation, he had just ruined Reborn's suit, but that had been the plan hadn't it? To get Reborn to spill his coffee.

Guilt in those usually self-assured eyes made no sense and neither did the fact that he'd pulled the trigger like that over something like a woman touching his teacher, at least, he was sure that was why he had done it. Reborn was an adult now and was entitled to explore his adult body as he saw fit and yet, Tsuna didn't want to know that his teacher had been doing _this_. So had this been why Reborn continued to disappear during the days? To...to- go on dates?

But then again, wasn't Reborn allowed to have girlfriends? Tsuna struggled as his logical mind said that this was completely normal and expected; Reborn had always bragged about his charm as a baby, hadn't he? But the brunet's heart pounded painfully in apprehension, he didn't want his teacher to leave him for some woman; because he still had so much to learn from his tutor, his friend, and it hurt to know that someone was capable of taking Reborn away from him. Tsuna hated to be alone, it was something he, himself, was aware of, he wasn't sure when it had started but it was partially the reason he clung to those he trusted in his sleep.

It pained him, to know that Reborn left him to wait so long at night just so the hitman could get laid, but Tsuna wasn't- _isn't_ supposed to be selfish. He wasn't supposed to be so..._annoyed_ at the fact that Reborn did that. 'That's right, Reborn's always done what he liked, you can't chain him down.'

"Tsuna? What's wrong?" Skull had finally come off his high at being able to catch Reborn's startled face as the hitman's cup of espresso shattered and spilled. The stuntman gently shook Tsuna, wondering why the teen looked like he had faced a ghost.

Tsuna snapped out of his inner thoughts to look at Skull and offer a reassuring smile, which wasn't very reassuring if the stuntman's expression was anything to go by.

_'It's nothing._' Tsuna mouthed, crawling over to the gun and focusing on taking it apart.

Yes, it was nothing but his own confusion and overreaction, maybe Reborn hadn't always been out with some woman, maybe he had been doing missions without him. It wasn't like his teacher took him on every mission the hitman obtained. When they got back, he could ask Reborn nicely about what was going on, his mentor had always taught him to never make assumptions.

Yet why did the thought that Reborn had been out with _anyone_ make Tsuna's heart pound so loudly and painfully?

* * *

**A/N**: Kudos to those who can guess why Gokudera's angry at Giotto...Though you'll find out some other time. Also, I started a co-written fic with Daylite! (I'm sure many R27 fans know who she is. XD) Feel free to have a look! Our shared pen-name is CieloCorvo. ((Shameless advertising.))

**R&R!**

P.S. Good luck to those who entered the Secret Santa! :D


	13. Chapter 11

**Hitmen in Crisis 11**

**A/N:** I'm so sorry about how late this is! Writers block is horrible. ;A; Please don't kill me.

To Guest: Eventually, people (specifically the 'tenth' and 'first' generation Vongola) will find him, it will just take some time. As for why Reborn is still hiding him, it is because he wants Tsuna to settle into the changes and partially so he can avoid the mess of explaining why Tsuna is now the Sky Arcobaleno and mute. Thanks for your review!

To those who mentioned it, yes Tsuna got a vision last chapter. XD

I thank all who have reviewed, favourited and followed this story and I'm happy to see some of you so eager to read to read this! It means a lot to a writer to know there are people out there who are willing to read his/her stories. :D

**Pairings**: R27 and Ver27 and some mild DaeElena...?

_'Tsuna mouthing stuff.'_

_'Tsuna writing stuff'_

* * *

Reborn stalked into the kitchen with the dry-cleaned suit draped over one shoulder. He wore a different dress shirt and black slacks. The hitman's eyes narrowed upon seeing everyone at the table, halfway through dinner. They were chatting or arguing with each other as usual.

Everyone but the brunet.

"Where's Tsuna?"

The others reactions were to glance at him and go back to eating. Reborn frowned at being ignored like that and would have asked more had Verde not stood up; chair scraping back and wiping his mouth. The scientist barely spared a glance toward the hitman as he brushed past.

"Tsuna didn't feel like eating."

Reborn glanced back to see Fon calmly eating another spoonful of risotto as if he hadn't spoken. He also caught Skull's concerned expression and narrowed his eyes, well aware that the stuntman had been there when his coffee had 'spilled' that afternoon. The hitman 'tsk'ed and turned on his heels, throwing his suit over a chair as he left. He would deal with the stuntman later.

* * *

Northern Italy

"God dammit. Why was I sent with you of all people?" Grumbled a red-head as he flicked his lighter. He cupped his hand around the flame and brought it to the cigarette at his mouth. He took a deep puff, breathing out a cloud of smoke to which his companion wrinkled his nose at.

"Nufufufu, perhaps Giotto wanted a break from your mother-henning." The melon-headed male waved a hand at the smoke, stalking forward so that he would not be downwind of the red-head.

G growled under his breath. "What 'mother-henning'?! Getting put together with the melon-head of all people to search for Giotto's little brother was definitely not helping his stress levels. Melon-sitting was not what he signed up for when he became a guardian.

The two were trekking down a road, trees and houses scattered here and there over the lush green hills turning gold in the setting sunlight. They were walking away from a small town empty handed and were reaching the more rural areas. Their car had the unfortunate circumstance of carrying a hot headed archer and melon headed illusionist and had met an epic end a few days back. At least now their arguments wouldn't result in another car crash. G's scowl grew deeper as he thought of all the paperwork they would come back to and the Giotto-chasing he would have to do. He took another deep drag in hopes of relieving his increasing migraine.

The only thing they knew was that Tsuna was in Italy so Giotto had decided to spread them out in search for him. G supposed it was unnecessary considering Reborn had found the brunet and was with him but he was quite worried too, especially when he heard what had happened on the school's rooftop. They still didn't know who had disguised themselves as the brunet, or what his motives were but for now G settled for seeing Tsuna again. The brunet had grown on him over the years and he still couldn't resist considering him as a little bother despite being the same age.

G almost swallowed his cigarette when he crashed into his companion. "What the fuck, Melon head?!" He pushed the other forward, tensing slightly in preparation for the usual attack that would come with the use of the 'nickname'. When nothing happened, G peered around the other's shoulder to see Daemon's face uncharacteristically frozen in a strange kind of shock; the usual sly glint in his eyes absent.

G followed the other's gaze, his crimson eyes landing on a young blond woman through the window of an Italian villa. She was humming to herself as she took a bite of rock melon in the homey kitchen. He blinked when a rather familiar child with an afro leapt onto the table. G's mouth fell open. "Lambo?!" It was Lampo's nephew, if he recalled correctly, one who just popped up and ended up freeloading at Giotto's house for the last two years or so.

Unbeknownst to Giotto and his group of friends, Lambo was taken into the Sawada household after Tsuna had found him during one of his missions. But that's a story for another day.

Meanwhile, Daemon was preoccupied with staring at the blond woman, mesmerised by the sparkles that seemed to form as she smiled at a child. The way she chewed on her slice of melon held him in a daze as he drifted forward -the fact that she was eating his own kind didn't cross his mind at all. In fact, they way her lips caressed the soft fruit appealed to him greatly.

The shattering of a plate snapped both guardians back to themselves and they were startled to find a female, with soft purple locks styled into a pineapple shape, staring at them. Her hand was over her mouth and her one eye was wide in shock.

"B-big brother?"

Her voice was soft but G caught it. He frowned, wondering who she was calling 'brother'. Judging by the hair, he would think Daemon but the melon headed bastard had never mentioned having siblings before.

"Nagi!"

G gaped –again- as Daemon ran past the fence and dived through the window. There were loud clattering sounds followed by a startled shriek and a 'Gyahahahaha, the giant melon just flew in!' At least the cow brat knew how to say things.

Daemon held his precious little sister's face –one whom he hadn't seen for years- his eyes watering as his eyes roamed over hear features, especially over the eye patch. "W-what happened to you, dear Nagi? And your eye…" He was about to trace a thumb over the eye patch when a frying pan slammed into the side of his head. He was knocked out cold; the last thing he saw being the mesmerising blond woman's glare and words that echoed in his mind; "Don't you dare touch Chrome, you _pervert_!"

G's jaw had dropped to the floor by this point.

* * *

Arcobaleno Casa, underground training room

Left punch. Right hook. Block. Left kick and duck.

Tsuna settled into the moves like a trance, focusing on making each hit meaningful, strong and precise but not so much that he would waste energy. He was fighting opponents conjured up in his vision through the head piece he was wearing. His attention and concentration occupied so that other, more trivial, thoughts wouldn't be at the forefront of his mind. The brunet kicked the man to his left away, and bought his elbow back into the gut of another behind him. The first man was flung into three others. He pulled out his gun -one that shot holographic bullets- and fired at the two snipers he had spotted near the ceiling.

The backdrop was a posh ball room of a mansion. Nondescript mafioso running at him from all directions. Tsuna grit his teeth as he leapt into the air and activated his flames, flying up to the chandelier in a twisted path so as to avoid being hit by flying bullets. He grabbed the chain holding the large crystal lighting up, melted through the metal and then flew off into one of the alcoves at the top. He winced at hearing the crash and yells from behind as the chandelier plummeted; he didn't enjoy taking life and he would never do so meaninglessly but the sounds and effects were very realistic, despite him being well aware that everything was just a hologram.

When he reached the alcove he landed in a roll, firing at the awaiting man and watched as blood spurted from the head wound. He didn't have time to think about it for he had to quickly get to his feet and dash away from another batch of bullets.

Reborn watched all this from his position at the doorway. Although to him all he could see was Tsuna fighting nothing in a plain armoured plated room with rectangular alcoves built around the top. But he knew the simulation Tsuna was currently testing, having gone done it before. This was one of Verde's inventions; the scientist had been trying to create a program that the hitman himself could not defeat. Reborn scoffed, of course that hadn't work but he would admit that it made for a good workout.

The raven haired man's eyes watched as his student leapt from one of the alcoves and back onto the floor near the edge. If he remembered correctly, that was where a large pillar stood in the simulation. Reborn felt his lips pull up in amusement; it was rather ironic that that was the place where he had taken refuge the last time he had tested the simulation. He reached up to tug his fedora down and schooled his face to be blank; he was supposed to be angry at the brunet.

"Tsuna."

The brunet was in the middle of shooting at the men from behind the pillar when his name rang through the ruckus and caught in his ears. Tsuna's brows knitted as he tried to think if this was part of the simulation or if it was real. He peered around the pillar toward the men, honey-brown orbs roving over the multiple suits and weaponry, he almost missed the sharp pair of pitch black eyes looking at him from under the shadow of a very familiar fedora.

_'R-Reborn?'_ Tsuna mouthed before ducking back behind the pillar to avoid another volley of bullets, his ears ringing. No, it wasn't because he avoiding his teacher or anything.

"Yes, Dame-Tsuna?"

The brunet yelped as he felt a hot breath tickle his ear. He grabbed the ear and turned to glare at the hitman, who had appeared right beside him. It was then he remembered what had transpired the last time he had seen his mentor, and fear made him shudder involuntarily; Reborn hated getting his suits ruined. The brunet ignored the other nagging questions in the back of his mind; this wasn't exactly the right time to ask and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answers at all. Tsuna bit his bottom lip in frustration.

Reborn almost chuckled at the teen's reaction but avoided doing so by pointing Leon in gun form at the teen and increasing his killer intent. Tsuna barely noticed it as the headset was still sitting on his head. Instead, he saw a mafioso running up, knife in hand and aim for his teacher. Forgetting that he was in a simulation, the brunet tackled his teacher down and shot the enemy.

Reborn grunted at the impact, he then grabbed the headset and pulled it off the brunet. He watched Tsuna blink in confusion at the sudden change; the lack of loud sounds of shouting men and breaking furniture, the walls being white rather than red and the scents of copper and gunpowder all but gone. The hitman then watched with some degrees of amusement as Tsuna looked down to find himself lying on the hitman and blink once again in confusion, head tilting cutely. Reborn grumbled; it was really hard to stay mad at the brunet.

Tsuna was just feeling relieved Reborn wasn't hurt and it showed on his face as he smiled down at his mentor, not noticing that he was still lying on top the man and forgetting entirely that he had been hoping to avoid the man. The hitman then knew intuitively what the brunet had most likely seen and sighed in exasperation, reaching up to tug on one of his sideburns. "Dame-Tsuna, that was a simulation." At least the brunet had the grace to blush in embarrassment.

Reborn's eyes locked onto the rising red tint that crossed those soft cheeks, his intense gaze making Tsuna self-conscious and squirm in his position before burying his head into the hitman's front. Reborn was suddenly overcome with the urge to hug the teen close, but his own pride stopped him just as his arms were circling the younger. Instead he reached for the blushing cheeks and pulled.

Tsuna yelped, sitting up on the hitman's stomach to glare at the man and rubbing his cheeks; that had _hurt_. He froze when he saw the glare directed back at him and gulped, 'I forgot that I was avoiding him!' The brunet was sure Reborn was going to punish him for getting the Armani suit soiled, although the picture Skull had captured was worth it; it was so rare to see a startled expression on Reborn's face.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna could hear the murderous undertones and sat up straight, he felt like a child being scolded. The brunet kept his hands on the hitman's chest where they could be seen clearly. Although he did wonder how fast he could take his gloves out, or his real gun.

"Are you even aware of your position in the underground world?"

Tsuna blinked; that had not been what he had been expecting. He had been gearing up for another scolding for ruining Reborn's suit -last time had involved the polluted canals in Venice and Reborn had _not_ been a happy camper, to say the least.

"Answer me, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn sat up, making the brunet slide down into his lap and for the edge of his fedora to be squished against a brown mass of hair. He was too annoyed to think about the precarious position the two were in and so the hitman grabbed the brunet's chin and stared directly into the honey-brown orbs.

_'I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, twin bother to the Vongola Decimo and son of the Outside Advisor who is supposedly innocent. Cælum, freelance assassin and student to the Greatest Hitman in the world.'_ Here Tsuna's lips unconsciously quirked up._ 'There are a few other aliases here and there but...is there something I've mised?'_

Reborn resisted the urge to face-palm. Well, it wasn't like he or any of the others had stated the role outright to the brunet. The hitman poked the teen's chest right above the heart where a small bulge rested.

Tsuna peered down in confusion at the finger on his chest where he knew the pacifier rested under his shirt. Wait, pacifier. The brunet's eyes widened before turning his head up to face Reborn. He was too shocked to be peeved about the fact that he was able to see Reborn eye to eye even though he was siting in the older man's lap.

_'T-the Sky Arcobaleno?'_ Tsuna hadn't really thought about what it meant to have the pacifier in his hold and glowing for him. It seemed like an eternity since Yuni had passed away and yet felt like a second at the same time. He had unconsciously taken the pacifier with him wherever he went and hadn't given much thought to it. The notion that the pacifier belonged to him was just- _there_. He didn't even have to think about it; it was like it was always his to begin with.

"Not just that." Reborn grumbled, he could see the confusion racing through the clear brown orbs and understood how the brunet felt. When he had first received the pacifier, no matter how much he had abhorred the thing, he had kept it on his person without thinking. When he had tried to purposefully part with it, he had found himself reluctantly taking it back, just as all the other Arcobaleno had. Seeing he had the teen's attention again he continued, "The Sky has always been the Boss, Tsuna."

It took some time for that information to sink into Tsuna's head and when it did, he froze. It wasn't possible, right? How could he, a student of two of the Arcobaleno, whose experience compared to the others was like comparing a puddle to a lake become a- a- _Boss_ for the strongest bab- adults in the mafia?!

Reborn sighed, he didn't have any issues with having the brunet as his Boss, and he doubted the other Arcobaleno minded with how they had warmed up to the teen. The Arcobaleno Boss was different to the Mare and Vongola Bosses; for one thing the Arcobaleno Boss wasn't always the Boss of a famiglia. And for another, the Arcobaleno Boss's job description was different.

**_"You have become the sky that holds all, to care and nurture the others and make sure they don't break."_**

Tsuna blinked out of his shock as the words came to mind like a forgotten dream, one of vast blue skies and a white figure with a bulbous hat.

"If you understand that, Dame-Tsuna..."

The brunet looked toward Reborn again and noted the anger had returned into those pitch black eyes. An anger he still didn't get, Reborn's question having served to just make him more confused as to why the hitman was angry.

"What do you think you were doing, going out without protection?"

Tsuna's mouth flopped open in shock. 'That's what Reborn's angry about?!' Well, he was relieved it wasn't about the suit or about the fact he had stal- followed Reborn. _'I was with someone. And I don't need protection; you're the one who taught me after all!'_ Tsuna hoped Reborn hadn't seen Skull, he knew that his mentor had spotted him -and his hairstyle wasn't exactly the most common one around- but he hoped that Skull was safe.

"Skull isn't enough."

So much for the brunet's hopes. '_He promised to protect me!' _From Colonnello for some reason but Tsuna wasn't going to mention that. _'And I believe he can, you should stop bullying him so much.' _The brunet pouted and folded his arms, turning his head away to glare at the wall.

Reborn snorted and glowered at the teen. "And saying you can protect yourself isn't very reassuring, I think you would be more likely to walk blindly into trouble." Seeing Tsuna turn and open his mouth to retort, Reborn stopped him. "We can't have the Boss of the Arcobaleno walking about without protection; there are a lot of people out there who will come after you as soon as they know. You'll have more than your current enemies to deal with." Reborn shifted his legs; they were starting to go numb with Tsuna sitting on them.

Tsuna grumbled, he didn't want to be watched over like some accident prone damsel -he'd had enough of that from Giotto. What were a few more enemies compared to how many he had before? _'You're being overprotective, Reborn.'_ Which was weird considering the hitman was always the one who was first to throw people into a ravine and call it 'training'.

Reborn, 'overprotective'? The hitman took offence to that; he was being cautious, as you would need to be in their world. He was just about to hit his idiot student over the head for assuming such a thing, but Tsuna stopped him as his lips formed another sentence.

_'If you wanted to protect me so much, you wouldn't go out without me...'_ Tsuna looked intently at his lap, these words -had they been spoken aloud- would have been a mumble but to someone who read lips, it was clear as day.

Reborn froze for a moment, blinking in surprise. "Are you saying you missed me, Dame-Tsuna?" He should not be feeling remotely happy about this, but he was.

_'No!'_ Tsuna ignored the little voice in the back of his head calling him a liar. _'I was worried about you! I thought you were taking missions or something... Not go-going out on dates.'_ Tsuna bit his lip, he didn't want to tackle this issue now and he desperately wanted Reborn to deny it; to say that he was on missions. The brunet wasn't sure why though, he wanted Reborn to finally be free from his curse and enjoy life as an adult but at the same time he had the absurd urge to grab his teacher and never let go. 'I'm so confused!'

Reborn flicked the brunet's forehead. "I can take perfect care of myself, Dame-Tsuna. And what I do is none of your business." It wasn't like he had been planning on letting the brunet see him with one of his 'dates'. In fact he would rather the teen didn't know anything about that, along with the flashes of lust he seemed to get whenever he got around the brunet. Speaking of being around the brunet... The hitman blinked as he became aware of exactly what position the two were in and his student's complete obliviousness to it.

Tsuna rubbed his forehead, hiding his expression behind his bangs so Reborn wouldn't catch the flash of hurt in his eyes. He knew that it wasn't his business and that he was sticking his nose in unnecessarily, but Reborn didn't have to put it like that, did he? The brunet stood up abruptly, _'If you want to stay out, fine. You don't need to come back at all.'_ Had he just been a burden? Always waiting for his teacher to come home at night?

"What?" Reborn had been resisting the urge to reach out and hold the teen again when Tsuna had stood up, the hitman had almost missed the mouthed words. When had his student become bipolar? "Tsuna, what are you talking about?" he asked as he stood up again, stretching his legs.

_'Y-you don't need to come back at night! I-I won't wait for you and go to sleep so you don't need to worry. You can just do what all adults do when they stay out!'_ It hurt; his heart was beating in a stinging rhythm that left him breathless. Tsuna clenched a fist around the pacifier over his heart, hoping to slow it. Seeing his teacher's shocked look, he couldn't face it anymore and dashed out of the room.

* * *

"I would appreciate it, if you didn't destroy my walls Tsunayoshi." Verde pushed up his glasses as he observed the teenager from his seat in front of his computer screens.

Tsuna took a deep breath, unclenching fists and closing his eyes as he recalled Fon-sensei's breathing exercises. There was a rather large crater in the cement wall next to him, debris was scattered around his feet.

Verde continued to watch the teen; he had seen everything through his screens. But having only heard half the conversation, he couldn't draw a firm conclusion as to what had transpired between Reborn and Tsunayoshi. He could get that the teen was angry, and most likely at his fellow Arcobaleno. "'Reborn-" Verde caught Tsuna's flinch at that name -not that he really enjoyed it saying either, "'-is a jerk.' Is what I'm going to assume you are trying to say."

Tsuna sighed but shook his head, if his tutor enjoyed staying out so much for- for- _pleasure_, then he should be entitled to. Tsuna wasn't stupid nor sheltered, he was well aware what adults and even people his age did -not that he had ever appreciated the things he saw when roaming the red light districts. If he remembered correctly, Reborn had hinted at indulging in such things before as well as having various lovers, but seeing such a thing at face value was a shock to the teen. And he was angry at himself for losing his cool like that in front of his mentor of all people.

"No?" Verde blinked. "Well, I don't really know what you would expect from him." The scientist was somewhat confused as to why the teen was angry, or was he upset? Verde huffed, humans were far too confusing. He much preferred being holed up in his lab without contact with such bothersome beings -although he was currently in his lab anyway. "If you wish, I would gladly dissect him for you. I am quite curious about how his mind works." Verde slipped a scalpel from the tray beside him and examined the edge; wondering if he would need to cleanse it again.

Tsuna blinked at the scientist, not sure if he was serious or not and couldn't stop a giggle from emerging from his lips. He slammed a hand over his mouth in hopes of stalling anymore. It seemed so ridiculously Verde to say such a thing and he could feel that, deep down, the scientist was trying to offer for his benefit.

Verde looked away from his scalpel -having been lost in thought about all he could garner from the hitman if he ever dissected him- and toward the brunet whom had collapsed on the floor, shoulders shaking uncontrollably. 'Is he that upset?' Verde felt disconcerted, for some reason the thought of the usually hyper teenager being so upset didn't sit well with him. Well, maybe something science related could cheer up the other, it always worked for Verde.

Tauna had finally managed to gain control of his giggles, proud of himself for not releasing a sound. He was wiping the last of the tears away when he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up and up -why was Verde so tall?- to see the scientist holding a large flask with a small amount of orange coloured liquid and a small beaker with another coloured liquid.

Verde bent down and placed the large flask before the teen and handed the small beaker to Tsuna. He reached out to absently wipe a stray tear from Tsuna's cheek -he still didn't know that the brunet had been laughing- then placed a pair of safety goggles over the brunet's eyes and said in his default tone, "Pour the contents of the beaker into the large flask."

Tsuna blinked through the goggles and tilted his head; wondering what this was about, but did as he was asked. There was a pause as foam built up at the bottom of the flask and then he yelped as foam exploded from the top and came raining down on them. The orange foam felt warm against his skin and he gaped in shock for several moments, frozen in his position on the floor.

Verde calmly took off his own pair of goggles and wiped his glasses. "A simple reaction involving the release an oxygen particles from hydrogen peroxide. What do you think of it, Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna blinked, unable to see anything but orange foam on his goggles. He slipped them off and laughed at the sight of the scientist covered in foam. He then squeaked when a lump of foam wiggled beside him, wondering if it was alive and where was Hayato when you needed him and his UMA knowledge. Only to breathe a sigh of relief when it turned out to be Keiman. Picking the caiman up, Tsuna gently wiped as much foam off the crocodile as possible.

"Are you still upset?" Tsuna turned to the scientist, who had come closer to crouch in front of the teen. Tsuna blushed, realising that Verde had been trying to cheer him up and shook his head whilst cuddling Keiman closer. He did feel better, the tension in his shoulders from before having been eased. He shut his eyes as Verde ruffled his hair, brushing more foam off; they all needed a bath. At that thought, Tsuna perked up, he recalled seeing a bath room off to the side of the lab, probably for safety purposes but it would serve to clean them.

The brunet stood up, still holding onto the crocodile and grabbed Verde's arm to drag the older man into the shower. Verde -being the observer he is- let the brunet lead the way, wondering what the teen was going to do; he found watching the younger male quite amusing.

Tsuna turned the knob harshly, letting a spray a water torrent out and over them all, causing both males' spiky hair to flatten. Verde grunted indignantly, but he supposed the foam needed to be washed off even though it was harmless. He slipped his glasses off; they were useless in the shower and put them into his lab coat pocket. Was taking a shower fully clothed even common?

Apparently not, because the next thing he knew, Tsuna had already stripped to his boxers and looked ready to take those off too. "T-Tsunayoshi, you don't need to take off everything." He did _not_ just stutter as he grabbed the brunet's wrists. A pink tint ran across his cheeks as Tsuna blinked back at him. "There is such a thing as discretion. Surely you should know that."

Tsuna pouted and tugged his hands away, not bothering to mouth words because Verde wouldn't understand him. He waved vaguely at his own body and at Verde's, patting the older man's drenched shirt. The scientist somehow managed to interpret the brunet's movements, "It doesn't matter if both of us are male, and people don't commonly shower together." Despite his lack of contact with humanity in general, the scientist had read many books on the human psyche.

Tsuna just glared back stubbornly and started tugging the scientist's clothes off, much to Verde's protests. The clothes had to be heavy with all that water. The brunet grinned down to Keiman when the crocodile started tugging Verde's shoes off.

"I demand you two to stop this!"

* * *

"Shit!" Reborn slammed a fist into the wall beside his door, the plaque on his door rattling at the force. He hadn't been expecting those words from his student, and seeing as the brunet's head had been down, he hadn't been able to catch the expression on Tsuna's face nor the tone -mouthing words could only get you so far. He also hadn't been expecting to feel so annoyed at the brunet's words.

_'You can just do what all adults do when they stay out!'_

'Isn't that like saying that he doesn't really care about me going out with anyone?' For some reason this really annoyed him to no end. He would have preferred it if- a memory from years ago rushed at him.

_"R-Reborn! Where are you going?" Tsuna panted from his position in the middle of the minefield. His form was scratched and beaten from the gruelling training so far and he was expected to get out of this place in one piece. The fact that it was currently the witching hour did not help at all._

_"I'm going home to sleep. You better be there when I wake up, Dame-Tsuna." The infant hitman smirked as he turned __Leon__ into a motorbike and hopped on._

_"B-but Reborn!"_

_The hitman turned and quirked a brow at the brunet's face that clearly read, 'don't leave me!' from the slightly open mouth to the pleading eyes. He would admit it was rather cute, but there was no way someone of his calibre would fall for such a face._

_"The mines all have a time limit; you better get out-" he glanced at his watch "-by the next hour."_

_"WHAT?!"_

Reborn nodded thoughtfully; he would have preferred that pleading expression on the brunet's face. It had been some time since he had seen it, as the brunet started growing into himself and depended less and less on him. Reborn wanted the brunet to be independent but a small part of him didn't want that.

"R-Reborn-sempai? Aren't you going to go in?"

The hitman turned to see Skull sticking his head out of his own door, purple hair scattered every which way. The stuntman had been asleep but had woken and had decided to get up for a glass of water.

"Skull."

The stuntman shifted his gaze and flinched, hoping that the hitman knew nothing of his and Tsuna's involvement in what had happened that afternoon. If he did, Skull would take the blame, there was no need for Tsuna to see Reborn's wrath -he had completely forgotten that the brunet was the hitman's student and had probably seen Reborn mad many times.

"Why did you take Tsuna out alone today?"

Skull gulped and really really hoped that the reinforced wooden door would be enough to stall Reborn for a few moments while he escaped. He didn't bother hoping it would stop the hitman; there wasn't much that could stop Reborn on a rampage.

"He's now the Sky Arcobaleno and our boss."

Skull froze in the middle of closing his door. He then opened it fully to face the hitman. "I believed I could protect Tsuna" he said without hesitation "and that if we really got in trouble, you would have noticed right away." The stuntman bit his lip at facing Reborn's serious stare; he would much rather the hitman hit him or shoot at him than this silence.

This subject was sensitive; all of the Arcobaleno knew that. After what had happened to Luce due to their carelessness years ago, they had all vowed to never let it happen ever again.

A loud sigh broke the tension and Skull blinked at Reborn, who had reached up to take his fedora off and run a hand through his hair. "Tsuna is hard to keep and eye on. Tell the others to keep their eyes peeled." With that Reborn opened the door to his room and stalked into the cold darkness.

Skull was left wondering if Reborn had been complimenting the brunet or not -did he hear a proud yet exasperated tone just then?- before shrugging and turning to head down for his water in his teddy pyjamas.

* * *

Verde slumped into his seat, exhausted. He had endured the stripping -thankfully the brunet had handed him a towel- and the following _bubble_ bath. What world's number one scientist took bubble baths? Luckily the bathtub was a large one, for when Verde obtained a large creature or monster to examine. It had been particularly helpful with marine box weapons; like that one time with a shark.

Tsunayoshi seemed to have had a lot of fun though, if the laughing mess of a teenager had been any indication. Especially when the brunet had started trying to mould shapes out of the bubbles. Tsuna's crudely shaped bubbles had irked the scientist enough to try it himself whilst lecturing the brunet about how to properly proportion 'bubble men'. Nothing in the world would make Verde admit he had participated in such a meaningless exercise.

A laugh to the side broke through Verde's thoughts and he turned his head to see Tsuna sitting on the table, wearing one of his shirts and drawstring pants. Unfortunately, Verde's boxers didn't fit the brunet and Tsuna refused to get another pair from his shared room. The brunet had a fluffy towel draped around his neck and another in his hands; which he was using to dry Keiman. The scientist wondered if he should mention that reptiles didn't really need to be dried due to their skin structure. He decided against it when the crocodile attempted to crawl up the brunet's chest, making Tsuna giggle; there was no need to burst the teen's bubble.

Instead, Verde turned to what he had been working on for the last few days. To common eyes, it looked like a large metal collar with a green jewel to the side. Verde picked it up thoughtfully, wondering if it would serve the purpose it was made for as he hadn't tested it yet. Theoretically, it should work, but his Subject in question was a special case.

Tsuna hummed to himself as he petted Keiman, who had settled down on his lap, and absently took a mint from the packet next to him. It was almost empty and he had bought it for Verde only a day ago. He unwrapped the sweet and popped it into his mouth, allowing the sharp mint taste to coat his tongue. The brunet rubbed his eyes, knowing he had to go to sleep soon but he didn't want to go to Reborn's room.

Tsuna perked up when he heard Verde move and turned to watch the scientist approach with something in hand. When Verde was standing before the brunet, he held the device up for him to see. The scientist decided to explain what it did rather than use his usual method of 'experiment before explaining'.

"This is something I made which should allow you to speak, although the voice will be automated. It reads the signals your brain usually sends through your synapses with this-" Verde pointed to the green crystal. "The signals your brain sends have slight electrical pulses, which are read and converted. That is all I'll say because I doubt you will understand if I were to go more in depth."

Tsuna nodded in relief, thankful that the scientist had stopped before his brain imploded. Verde took that as an agreement, and reached out to clasp the collar around the brunet's throat. Tsuna shuddered as the cold metal met his skin but allowed Verde to do as he liked. The brunet tilted his head up to help and wiggled his nose when Verde leaned down and gave him a face full of green hair.

Verde stood back and examined his work, his current experiment blinking up at him in a -dare he admit it- rather cute way, not that the word had ever been used in his vocabulary before. "Try talking, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna pouted, kicking his legs against the table he was sitting on, "I told you to call me 'Tsuna' Verde! Oh!" The brunet's eyes grew wide as a robotic voice emerged from the collar he was wearing, the green crystal lighting up in time with each sound.

Verde smirked confidently and reached out to pet the brunet, but a sudden spark stopped him. His green eyes widened as little lightning ran along the device. Tsuna had frozen too, having felt the prickling along his skin. The scientist 'tsk'ed and grabbed the collar, letting the lightning run into his body and pointed away with his other hand, letting it all out in large burst into the ground.

Tsuna stared wide-eyed at the large burn mark on the floor. _'That was weird.'_ He frowned when he realised that there was no voice. Verde sighed and reached out to undo the collar, the jewel on the side had become a dull green. "This is why I hate anything that has to do with that curse."

Tsuna huffed, his hopes dashed, but he was happy the scientist had tried to find a method around his lost voice. He peeked at the man who was still grumbling under his breath, able to see the dark circles under those green eyes; he had obviously spent a few sleepless nights on the device. Touched at the thought that the scientist had been trying to help, the brunet placed Keiman aside, hopped off the table, and tackled the man in a hug before beaming upward.

Verde felt himself stare wide-eyed as flowers started blooming in the background whilst the brunet smiled, and ignored the fact that it was quite hard to breathe. He took his glasses off to wipe them and put them back on, only to see even more flowers surrounding the brunet, "An impossible phenomenon." Unless, of course, it was an illusion.

Tsuna tilted his head curiously, wondering what Verde was going on about and watched as the scientist reached out to poke something in the air. Perhaps Verde had a few screws loose? The brunet had heard Reborn calling him 'mad scientist' before. Then again, most of the people Tsuna knew seemed to have a few issues.

* * *

North Italy. (Speaking Japanese)

The loud revving of engines echoed in the night, disrupting the natural silence of the sparse forest. They came to a screeching stop, blowing leaves away and leaving tire tracks through the dirt.

"We're lost TO THE LIMIT!" A black haired boxer yelled as he pushed up a muddied pair of goggles. He had enjoyed dirt biking over the mountain ranges of Italy, it had been one extreme experience that left him breathless, especially when he and his companion had leapt off that cliff a few kilometres back, it was EXTREME! As his little brother would have put it.

"Hn, don't state the obvious." A male with flaxen blond hair on the bike next to the boxer grumbled irritably as he stepped off his bike. There was no need to try riding when it was this dark, he didn't want to be held responsible by his 'boss' if the loud-mouth boxer crashed into a tree and died.

"That was EXTREME Alaude! Did you have fun?!" Knuckle grinned widely, teeth stark white in the dark. He also leapt off his bike and started pushing it forward. Ignoring the mud that got everywhere; getting dirty was part of being a MAN! Colonnello had taught him well.

"Hn." Alaude refused to answer such a question; he already knew the great pains it would take to get the mud off his coat. At least it would be easier than blood, but blood didn't show as easily as mud did. Instead, he threw a pair of handcuffs up into a tree nearby.

"Oi! What are you doing TO THE LIMIT-!" Knuckle had to quickly duck as a tonfa sailed past him and embedded deeply into the trunk of a tree. He turned fists at the ready for the next attack. He punched with his right fist when he saw a dark blur, meeting the metal side of another tonfa. "EXTREEEME!"

Knuckle's opponent grunted audibly and leapt back, wondering if this herbivore would be worth the fight. He reached out and dislodged his previous tonfa as a blood thirsty smirk spread across his lips.

"Kyoya."

The black haired male stopped short and turned. "Cousin."

Alaude huffed. "Didn't I tell you to call me 'brother'." Seeing Kyoya glare at him, Alaude narrowed his eyes back, ready to throw a handcuff to discipline his younger half-brother.

Knuckle lowered his fists as he noted who exactly he had been fighting with. "Hibari! What are you doing here, TO THE LIMIT!"

Both skylarks twitched. Neither of them could stand the loud herbivores. They were uncouth and obnoxious with a stubborn streak several miles long. Hibari slipped his tonfa back seeing as the loud herbivore wasn't worth the fight now. He examined his older brother and the loud herbivore's appearances, wrinkling his nose at the dirt and grime covering the both of them and the bikes.

He was about to question them when an alarm blared through the silence startling all three of them into fighting stances.

"Trespassers! Prepare to be purified!"

* * *

Arcobaleno Casa, Verde's room

Tsuna gaped at Verde's room. He had forcibly dragged the scientist upstairs to get some sleep. Verde had been getting too engrossed in trying to find a solution to the issue. In fact, the scientist was still scribbling in a notebook and tilting Tsuna's head here and there to get a good look. As Tsuna was now gaping, Verde too the opportunity to place a wooden stick into the teen's mouth and shine a torch down the brunet's throat.

Tsuna was still trying to get his head around Verde's room. Why? Well, when he saw Verde's lab and how spick and span it was kept, along with equipment and experiments placed around neatly with labels and everything. He had been expecting a meticulously kept room, neat with not a speck of dust. Instead, Verde's bedroom was... a mess -to put it simply.

Book upon books were stacked around what Tsuna could make out as the bed. Sheets of paper with various diagrams and words were scattered everywhere. Not a single piece of carpet or wall was spared, even the windows had equations scribbled over it with marker. He wasn't sure how the scientist made his way to the bed.

When the brunet got over his shock, he took out the stick in his mouth whilst ignoring the scientist's protests. He reached out to grab Verde's notebook and scribbled a message. _'I'm going to help you clean this mess in the morning.'_

Verde pushed up his glasses and glared down at the teen. "I don't need you to clean my room, Tsunayoshi."

_'I **insist**.'_ Tsuna tiptoed so that he could frown directly into green eyes, holding up his boldened message, his own honey-brown eyes taking on a determined sheen. After spending too much time with Reborn, he could appreciate a clean room. Especially after seeing Lambo's and the headache it had been, at least he was sure with Verde that he would not encounter sticky sweets stuck to the carpet and explosives. No wait, the explosives part might be possible with Verde.

Seeing the scientist release a relenting sigh -Verde had encountered the brunet's stubborn streak one too many times today- Tsuna's expression did a one-eighty and he grabbed Verde's hand and went through the clearest path to the bed. He then put the notebook over a stack of papers and made the scientist lie on the bed after taking off his lab coat. _'Sleep!'_

Verde didn't need to be able to read lips to know that the teenager had just ordered him to sleep. He grumbled but relented; he hadn't slept at all the night before, perhaps that was why he let the brunet have his way so many times today- he glanced at the clock on the wall -yesterday. Slipping his glasses off, he placed it over a stack of books. The scientist glanced toward the slightly blurred, retreating form of the teen. "And where are you going to sleep tonight?"

Tsuna froze, he had forgotten about his outburst from earlier and there was no way he could face Reborn after that. He could always stay in the living room, the sofa was large and this was where his short stature would be a blessing. Or he could take Fon-sensei up on his offer... He squeaked when an arm circled around his waist and he was dragged back, landing on the edge of a soft mattress. _'V-Verde?!'_

Verde didn't like it, he had no idea why such an emotion welled in him when he saw the way the brunet's shoulders had slumped as if depressed. But it felt like those times when he faced a (supposed) unsolvable problem. He wanted nothing more than to solve it, to own it and claim to be the only one genius enough for it. Although, the solving process was always delicate; it had to be approached carefully.

As he held the warm body -when was the last time he had ever done such a thing?- the scientist buried his face into the brown fluff, inhaling the brunet's scent. Now he understood Skull's boasting about getting to hug the teen at dinner. He wondered absently if the vanilla-strawberry-like scent was natural, because the shampoo in the laboratory bathroom was certainly not that flavour. Feeling Tsunayoshi wiggle, he shifted the both of them so that they were lying down and tugged the covers over them.

Tsuna's face burned as he heard Verde's breathing even, the grip around his waist staying tight. He was used to Reborn and even Fon but Verde had been a passing acquaintance to him. The brunet certainly wasn't expecting to ever end up in the same bed as the other. Sleep tugged at him and he decided that he was too tired to bother thinking anymore. Turning around to snuggle into Verde's shirt, Tsuna fell asleep.

* * *

In the room next door, a vibrating phone wakes the inhabitant in an instant. Instincts honed after years of training has a gun in her hands and pointed at the innocent device. Lal grumbled under her breath and checked the number on her mobile wondering who was calling her at such a time. She frowned a little when she saw who it was and hoped the idiot wasn't calling to ask about his son again, and that she wouldn't regret picking up.

"What do you want?"

"What a cold greeting to your boss, Lal."

That teasing tone was definitely not what she wanted to hear at this time. "If it's nothing important, don't wake me up!"

"Sorry, sorry! Ahaha, actually I need you to get over here. It's a good thing you're in Italy, and could you ask Colonnello to come too?"

"Is there a reason?"

"I kind of want to avoid adding anymore volatile people to this lot." Lal could practically hear the man scratching his head sheepishly, as well as some suspicious sounds in the background. "And Colonnello might help calm-"

"VOOOOOOOI! Who's 'volatile' you crappy Advisor!"

Lal was quick to pull her mobile phone off her ear and muffle in on her pillow, although the sounds of shouting still managing to seep through. A tic appeared on her brow as she rubbed her ringing ear with her other hand. If she became deaf she would be sure to skewer that bastard shark.

It took a few minutes for the sounds to settle, when there was no more the bluenette lifted the phone cautiously to her ear.

"Lal? Lal? You still there?"

She could hear footsteps on the other side and retreating muffled noises, Iemitsu had obviously decided on just getting out and walking away. "Yes."

"Good, sorry about that. I'll send over all the information to your email by morning, I expect you and Colonnello here by this time tomorrow."

"Sure." Thank god Iemistu was just getting to the point this time rather than make meaningless conversation.

"Also..."

"Yes?"

"How's my little Tuna~? I want to hear his cute voice! Can't you put him on?"

"Do you know what time it is, Iemistu?!" Lal yelled into the speaker and promptly shut the phone, annoyed. After calming down, she settled back into her bed and decided on sleeping. One last thought passed though her mind before her eyes shut; she wasn't going to be the one to tell Iemitsu that his son couldn't speak anymore.

* * *

**A/N:** No Tsuna acting as cupid for Daemon and Elena, sorry. Not that their relationship is starting off smoothly... XD The 'eating melon at first meeting' idea is accredited to _WhiteAngel128_ and _Mockingjay Rose_. As for why there are so many scene changes, it's because it gives you an idea of what's going on and sets the stage for more stuff to happen. Obviously, Tsuna isn't going to be centred on everything but he is for most.

**Thanks for reading this looong chapter!**

**R&R**


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